Stronger
by redsandman99
Summary: James and Cooper are confronted by the mistakes of their past and the things they just can't seem to let die.
1. Chapter 1

**So originally this was supposed to be a shorter story that was pretty much towards the point but a sudden creative burst made this a whole lot more complicated soooo this should be a long one. This goes along with the Savior/Mommy Dearest/Hurricane/Taken timeline of events**

**...**

A loud thump from downstairs woke seven year old Amber Lawson up from her sleep. She sat straight up in her bed, clutching her blankets tightly as she tried to will her heartbeat to slow back down. It was nearly three in the morning. Nobody should have been moving at this time of night. Not downstairs anyway. James and Mindy were the only ones that would have been up and they rarely ever left their room during the night. She swallowed nervously and listened close. At first she didn't hear anything else. Maybe she had imagined it. She started to lay back down when she heard another noise, this one sounding more like a crash. Glass breaking perhaps? Only one way to find out. She threw the covers off her body and got out of bed, slowly making her out of her room, down the hall and then down the stairs. The whole house was completely dark. She could barely even see her hands, which were stretched out in front of her in an attempt to keep herself from running into anything. Halfway down the stairs she almost slipped but managed to grab on to the railing and catch herself before she fell. She took a moment to pause and listen even though she didn't hear anything now. Slowly she crept the rest of the way down the stairs, venturing into the dark kitchen. Whoever had been down here hadn't turned on the lights so she did it herself. The floor was littered with broken glass; someone had knocked over a vase that had been sitting on the counter. She went to step around it so she could sweep it up when she spotted the back door standing wide open.

Her hear literally skipped a beat inside her chest. Someone was in the house. Immediately she grabbed the biggest shard of glass that she saw and held it out like it was a knife. Not the smartest of ideas for her hand really but she didn't have much of a choice. It was the closest weapon she had. She opened her mouth to scream for someone to come downstairs but shut it at the last second. That wasn't a good idea. Whoever was in there was probably a lot closer than her mother or James were. If she screamed they could get her before anyone else did. She had to keep quiet.

Biting down on her lower lip, she slowly began trying to creep out of the room so she could go back upstairs. The floor seemed to creak horribly loud with every single step she took. Her heart was pounding impossibly loud in her chest and the sound of her own breathing sounded magnified to the max. She went back down the hallway and headed to the stairs. She had her foot up ready to take the first step when a large hand grabbed her shoulder. In a panic, she screamed at the top of her lungs, whirling around and slashing the glass down into the man's leg. "MOMMY!"

…

James and Mindy laid snuggled together on their bed, Mindy's head resting on his chest while Aiden and Vanessa slept on top of them. Vanessa had just been able to come home from the hospital a few days before and she was ridiculously tiny still, just like all their kids had been when they were born. She had been born premature, just like the others. Aiden was already getting big though; it was probably too early to truly tell but it was the belief that he was going to get as big as James. James himself was trying his best to stay asleep, though it wasn't going so well. He knew that he was going to have to get up earlier than usual because he not only had Valentine's Day stuff to do but he had to start getting things ready for Chelsea's birthday party. He had a laundry list of things to do and he NEEDED to sleep but of course he couldn't. His eyes came open and he stared down at his wife and two youngest children (so far anyway) and smiled. Mindy and Vanessa were fast asleep but Aiden's eyes were wide open and when he saw James open his eyes he smiled and began to coo.

"What are YOU doing up?" James asked softly, rubbing noses with the infant. "Huh? YOU are supposed to be asleep."

Aiden just cooed and put his hand on James's mouth, laughing as James nommed his fingers.

"MOMMY!"

Amber's scream scared the ever living fuck out of James. Before Mindy even had her eyes open James was laying Aiden in her arms and ripping on some boxers before rushing out the room. He stubbed his toe in the doorway and nearly toppled over because he was going so fast but he caught himself on the wall and kept going. "AMBER!"

"DADDY!"

Daddy…it had been awhile since he had heard THAT one. He had been working on repairing his relationship with her since it had gotten so strained but he hadn't thought they were reaching the point where he was daddy again…she was probably just scared. He propelled himself down the dark staircase, hitting the lights to find a freaked out Amber holding a piece of broken glass in her hand and Cooper collapsed down in front of her on the floor, bleeding like crazy out of his leg. "What the hell happened?" he asked incredulously.

"She attacked me!" Cooper said, clutching his bleeding leg tightly and shaking his head at Amber. "Fucking comes at me with glass-"

"You came at ME!" Amber countered, her voice spiking as she stomped her foot. "I thought you were someone who broke into our HOUSE!"

"Pumpkin sweetheart come here…" Kneeling down James took the glass out of her hand and examined the cuts on her that came from holding it. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Amber shot Cooper a glare before taking a deep breath to explain, oblivious to her mother and Taylor coming down the stairs to see what the fuck was going on. "I heard thumps down here and then a crash. I thought Thorn and Scarlett broke something so I came down here and turned on the light and there was glass everywhere and the back door was OPEN!"

"WHAT?" James gave Cooper a look that promised all kinds of death while Taylor walked around them and ran into the kitchen to shut and lock the door back up.

"I thought someone got in," Amber said, continuing on with her story while Mindy ventured closer to Cooper, her head cocked to the side as she stared at the blood coming out of him. She had both Aiden and Vanessa in her arms and James pulled her back a bit so she wouldn't get blood on the babies. "So I grabbed the glass and was coming up to get you guys…then Cooper touched me and I cut him."

"Stabbed me is more like it," Cooper muttered. "Fucking christ what the fuck did you think-ow!" He looked up at Mindy, who had just kicked him.

"Don't blame my baby!" she growled, handing Aiden to Taylor as she came back. "You gave us all heart attacks you ASS!"

"What the fuck did you even think you were doing anyway?" James asked angrily. He ripped Cooper's hand away from the wound so he could examine it himself. It looked nasty that was for sure though it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. She hadn't actually stabbed him. She had just given him a nice big gash that was going to need stitches. "You fucking come in and leave the door open?"

"I thought I closed-"

"THINKING you closed it is NOT good enough!" James snarled, making Mindy, Amber and Taylor jump a little. "It's the middle of the NIGHT and you leave the door OPEN?" He shook his head in disgust. He could smell the booze on Cooper and it pissed him off. "If you can't go out and drink without doing something idiotic then you either need to not do it or not come home. I really don't care which."

Cooper wanted to say something in his own defense but there was nothing he could offer that anyone was going to listen to. He had fucked up. So he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and let Taylor pull him up to his feet so she could take him to the hospital. James took Amber into the bathroom and cleaned up her hand so he could get a better look at her cuts. None of them were going to need stitches. They were all pretty superficial so he just cleaned them up and gave her some band-aids before putting her back to bed. Then he returned back to bed with Mindy, who was able to go right back to sleep. Not him though. He managed to doze for about an hour and then was wide awake. Fuck. This was going to be a long LONG day.

…

At five in the morning James decided to just finally get up and start getting ready. The entire house had been cleaned yesterday so he snuck out as quietly as he could, driving to the store and picking up several bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolate for Mindy and the girls since it was Valentine's Day. Then he had to pick up Chelsea's birthday cake, which had been specially made. It was a four tier fondant princess castle that had pink sparkle sugar towers, a happy birthday banner with her name on it and sugar grass, flowers and vines decorating it. She was Princess of course she got a cake like this on her birthday. The entire theme of her party was this kind of stuff.

When he got the cakes back home the sun was just starting to rise and everyone that was there was still asleep. Cooper and Taylor were still gone but he didn't particularly care about that at the moment. He just put the cake in a safe place and snuck into each room, leaving the flowers and boxes of candy with the stuffed animals he had bought about a week ago. Then it was back downstairs to start chugging cups of coffee. He absolutely hated the stuff but he had no other choice in the matter. With the complete lack of sleep he was going to be downing it like crazy the whole day just to be functional. The assault on his taste buds would be worth it though.

He looked through the fridge, mulling over breakfast ideas before pulling out a package of bacon and getting out the griddle. Pancakes and bacon were always a safe choice and he had plenty of blueberries and chocolate chips to put in them to give them some variety.

…

Scarlett woke up first that morning and was thrilled to find the surprise James had left for all of them. She smelled the flowers and looked through the box of candy, which was just huge. She popped a piece in her mouth before taking it and her teddy bear downstairs, where she found James in the midst of making them all breakfast. "Daddy!"

"Angel!" He swooped her up into his arms and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Did you like your surprise?"

"Yes!" She set her bear and candy down on the counter so she could hug his neck. "Thank you."

He smiled as she gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "Anything for my girls." He saw that she was looking at the breakfast he was making and grinned. "Want to help me?"

"Can I?"

"Of course." He gave her a big kiss on the cheek and snagged a chair for her to stand on. "Here's what you have to do…"

…

A trail of soft kisses going all along her face and neck was what woke Mindy up. "Mmmm Jamie…" Shaking her head she tried to bury her face into her pillow. "Too early. Sleep now."

"Nooo no sleep." James kissed her harder and nuzzled her neck. "Open your eyes Baby Doll. I've got a surprise for you."

She did open her eyes for that and was rewarded with seeing a tray filled with a large stack of pancakes, some bacon, a bouquet of white orchids, a teddy bear with "I love you" written on the heart it was holding and a box of chocolates. "Jamie!"

"Happy Valentine's Day Baby Doll." He gave her a kiss on the lips, which she immediately deepened. They kept kissing for a minute before he reluctantly broke it so he could turn her attention back to her food. "Eat sweetheart. It'll get cold."

"Not if we're quick," she replied, kissing him once again. He tried to make another objection but her hand slipping down his pants to grab a hold of his cock made him moan and thrust up into her hand. Maybe breakfast could wait just a tad bit longer. Not like it would go cold right away.

…

"Hooooly shit," Cooper said under his breath as he carefully sat down in one of the lawn chairs outside. He had gotten seven stitches in his leg and was put on crutches because the doctor had been afraid of him ripping the stitches out by walking. It sucked really but there was nothing he could really do. "Jesus Dad went nuts with this shit."

"I helped!" Mindy said immediately. She was wearing a pink ball gown with a tiara on top of her head in the spirit of the princess theme this party had going on. Everything in the house had turned pink. Pink tablecloths, pink plastic wear, pink balloons and all kinds of castle things laying around because princesses lived in castles-Chelsea never let them forget THAT fact. "Jamie does not know how to decorate so I helped lots I did."

"So you blew up a cotton candy factory in here?" Cooper asked with raised eyebrows.

"FUCK you Bub!" She smacked him on the chest as hard as she could. "You are dumb you almost let some asshole into the house to kill us all."

"Mooom for Christ's sakes I'm SORRY, alright? I didn't mean to keep the door open I swear."

"Wouldn't have done you much good if someone came in and slitted our throats and killed us to death."

"Well they didn't so let's rejoice," he said as he gingerly rubbed his sore leg. He glanced over at Taylor, who was chatting with Natalya and Kelly because they had been close enough to stop by for this thing. Connor sat at their feet playing with Snoopy. Amber, Thorn, Scarlett and Elizabeth were all sitting on the floor playing with their teddy bears. Natalya was holding Vanessa even though Kelly was like begging for a turn with her and Mindy had Aiden sitting on her lap, dressed in a little prince's outfit.

"Hey guys, look who I have…" James's voice cut off any other conversation that Mindy and Cooper could have. He came in holding Chelsea's hand, had Stickers tucked under her arm like always. She was dressed in a pink dress with poofy sleeves and ruffles on the bottom, pink shoes and a tiara similar to the one Mindy was rocking.

"Chelsea!" Squealing Kelly left Nattie alone finally and came over to see the birthday girl. "You look so PRETTY sweetheart!"

"It's MY birthday," Chelsea informed her, laughing happily as James picked her up and kissed her cheek. "I'm Princess." She pointed to herself with her thumb and nodded assertively.

"Yes you are," James agreed. He gave her cheek a quick nom to make her squeal. "What does the Princess want to do first? Do you want to open your presents, eat your cake and ice cream or play some games?"

"Cake!" Of course. For the other girls the decision between cake and presents would have torn them more but not Chelsea. She knew what she wanted and wasn't shy about getting it.

"Okay Princess we'll have cake." Of course James immediately agreed to it. He was whipped to all the kids, but Chelsea really had him wrapped around her little fingers. It wasn't hard to figure out why though. Out of all the kids, she was the one that really was the most like her mother. That was a pretty clear fact in Cooper's eyes. And of course, since James was completely insane about Mindy, he was nuts about Chelsea.

Mindy got up with Aiden to stand by James and Taylor grabbed the camera as they lit the candles and hit the lights so they could start singing 'happy birthday' to Chelsea. Cooper moved his lips along to the song but didn't really sing. He just scooted back in his chair, realizing how left out he was with everyone else. Nobody really wanted him there. He was living there because Mindy didn't want him on the streets because last time that ended up with him on drugs. She had been distant though, too busy being all over James to give a shit about him anymore. James hated him and didn't want him there. He hated him since the moment he found out he raped Mindy. The kids all hated him too. Amber, Thorn and Scarlett knew what he did while Chelsea and the others were being conditioned to hate him without even being told why. Connor loved him for sure but lately all he did was attach himself to Taylor because she was nicer to him. And Taylor barely even looked at him even more. He had pushed her away to the point where she wanted nothing to do with him.

Chelsea blew out her candles with some help from James and Mindy and Taylor snapped about a dozen pictures while everyone else clapped. James happened to look up to see Cooper sitting there looking miserable and he sure as hell wasn't offering any kind of reassurance-not any good kind anyway. Instead he snacked an arm around Mindy's waist and pulled her in for an obnoxious kiss just to prove a point. Cooper looked away immediately and waited for them to start cutting the cake before getting up and slipping away. They weren't going to miss him. He clearly didn't belong there and he didn't feel like sitting there and acting like he did. No point in that whatsoever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Vermillion Lynn:** I hope so because James' way of doing it will be a LOT more violent and will probably end up being a lot more deadly. **jadeMK11**: Yeah if she hadn't realized who he was...that could have been really bad. **Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you! **Confused:** Not a fanfic of just original characters. Kelly and Natalya were there and are featured more in this chapter and they, along with other surprise appearances, will play a more important part as time goes on. The OC's were needed more for this chapter. **RRatedauthor**: We have a house full of girls, most of them under the age of ten. Sugary princess stuff isn't going anywhere. Cooper will be his usual annoying self though in abundance which can make for an interesting read, and hell for anyone trying to deal with him. **Ilse'sPurpleSummer**: lol Popcorn will definitely be needed for this :)

...

"What do you think of this one?" Kelly asked, holding out a light pink dress for all eyes to see. Today was a girl's day out so Mindy had taken her, Natalya and Taylor out to do some shopping. Natalya and Kelly had a very rare couple of days off and while neither of them had planned it together, they were both staying with James and Mindy for the time being. Kelly was friends with Mindy thanks to her late ex-husband Kane and Natalya was James' goddaughter. One of many really, thanks to how many Harts seemed to exist, but she was the one that he was the closest to. She had been the closest thing he had to an actual daughter until his stepchildren came and he and Mindy started having their own kids.

Natalya smirked and took the dress from the younger blonde's hands. "Com on now sweet cheeks. You know pink's my family's color."

"I can wear it if I want," Kelly said defensively, snatching the dress back out of Nattie's hands. "You guys don't own the color. And don't call me sweet cheeks."

"You can't wear that one anyway," Mindy informed Natalya. "Your butt's too big."

"Oh thaaaaanks." Natalya swung an arm around Mindy's shoulder and shook her head in amusement. "Glad to know you love being honest Min. Really a good quality to have."

"I know." Mindy skimmed through the rack of clothes in front of her. Taylor stood a little off the side, not entirely comfortable in this situation. She really didn't know Natalya and Kelly that well and they really didn't know her either. Kelly knew that she was a hooker because she had been at the house when Taylor had came begging to Mindy for help in dealing with drug doing Cooper. Natalya only knew she was Mindy's adopted daughter. She had tried to just tell Mindy to go shopping with just those two but Mindy wouldn't hear a word of it. She treated Taylor like she was her own flesh and blood and she didn't get to miss out on the shopping trip.

"What about this?" Kelly asked, holding up a black halter top.

"Ooooh try it on!" Mindy ordered. She snagged a red dress for herself and hooked arms with Kelly. "Come on bitch let's go." They walked arm in arm to the dressing rooms with Natalya and Taylor following closely behind them. Kelly and Mindy got rooms right next to each other so they could talk through the walls to each other.

"Soooo Min, I heard Hollywood wants to make a movie about you."

"A movie?" Natalya said, perking up at that. "Really? About your life or what?"

Taylor shook her head though that WAS a cool thought. The pint sized schizophrenic rockstar really did have a story Hollywood would jump at. Abused as a kid, killed her own mother at twelve, only spent three years in a mental institution before being released and making it big at seventeen, not only as the front woman to her band Stratusfear but also as a WWE diva. Her and her twin sister Trish Stratus had been the faces of the division until they both left the company until 2006. During that time Mindy had married Kane and had four of his children before meeting James, who had been with his half brother Mark. Kane had kept her hidden from James because he caused the fire that disfigured his face, not the Undertaker like storylines said he did. Kane hated James and managed to keep Mindy hidden from him for twelve years. When they finally met they fell in love and James killed Kane and ended up getting caught, only to get off and marry Mindy…THAT shit was the type of crap Hollywood would eat up in a heartbeat. However, that wasn't the kind of offer that was on the table.

"No they want to do a 3D concert," Mindy replied. "You know, one like Miley and the Jonas Brothers did?"

"Ooooh…" Natalya grinned at that . "Now THAT sounds kickass. What did you say to them?"

"That I would talk to my Jamie and get back to them." Mindy stepped out of the dressing room so they could get a look at her. The dress had spaghetti straps and was so low cut that her silicone breasts looked like they were about to pop out of it. "How do I look?"

"James would be on you in an instant if he was here," Natalya answered.

Mindy smirked. "When is he not?"

"Have you mentioned it to him yet?" Kelly asked as she stepped out for everyone to take a look at her. "About the concert I mean."

Mindy shook her head.

"Why not?"

"She thinks he might object and they'll end up fighting even though they promised no more of that," Taylor answered for her. "He did yank her out of the public eye before."

"Well she was pulling a disappearing act on us," Kelly pointed out, referring to the scary weight loss Mindy went through during her last go around right out in the public eye. She had dropped down to eighty nine pounds and had fainted at a photoshoot before James used the power he had as her conservator and pulled her out of everything for her health's sake. Kelly remembered the screaming match that had ensued after that. That was the first time she had ever heard them fight and she didn't want to hear that ever again quite frankly. Them fighting just was not right. "But it's just one movie. And the kids would love to see her on the big screen I know they would. That should sway him."

"That or a blowjob," Mindy said with a shrug. "That usually works."

Taylor snickered. "Usually? Try all the time."

"Offer to sing one of his songs first," Natalya suggested. "Give him a good ego stroke." James had ended up writing several songs that had been on Mindy's latest album, which had surprised all of them really. Nobody knew he had a songwriter in him waiting to come out.

"Have you heard all those songs?" Taylor asked as she popped most of her weight to her left leg. "A couple of those are uh…kind of interesting…"

"They were good," Mindy automatically said in his defense.

"They are but I mean…we've all listened to 'Sick', right? There's some issues going on-"

"My Jamie is perfect," Mindy said, her voice going a little cold as she shook her head at Taylor. "Jamie is fine don't talk about him like that." Her tone made it quite clear this wasn't up for discussion and Taylor shut her mouth. She had a point, Natalya and Kelly knew that, but they weren't going to argue with Mindy. You couldn't cross her when it came to James she would rip your head off in a heartbeat.

"Sooo me and Taylor should find ourselves something," Natalya said, breaking the awkward silence that had overcome the group. She hooked arms with Taylor and led her back over to the clothing racks. "Meet us there when you guys get changed."

Taylor clasped her hand in Nattie's and hung her head. She hadn't meant to make Mindy mad at her. That was the last thing she wanted. She had just made the mistake of calling out the truth, which was that James really did have deep seeded issues. It wasn't exactly a secret. But Mindy saw exactly what she wanted to see and James was her perfect darling that you did not fuck with unless you wanted your spleen ripped out and fed to you.

"Soooo…have you been out with any cute boys lately?" Natalya asked, changing the subject completely.

Taylor shook her head.

"Well why not? Scarlett told me all about how you were supposed to go out and start dating."

"I tried…I don't know I just can't find anybody."

Natalya raised an eyebrow. "Are you still not over Cooper?"

Taylor cringed. She hated how obvious it was to everyone else. She wanted to be over him. She wanted it so badly. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feelings she still had. Of all the people to fall for, Cooper Lawson was the worst and most confusing. When she had met him he had been kicked out of the house by James and spiraling down a dark path. She had taken him in and did her best to take care of him. She hadn't been able to keep him off drugs, which was a path he had already been on years before he had ever met her but she had pretty much saved his life by going to Mindy and helping him getting taken back into the Lawson household, despite James' protests. In reward she had gotten taken in herself and adopted by Mindy and then Cooper got clean and they had a pretty good friendship going on. Of course, her feelings turned into falling in love with him and then instead of letting her down gently, he led her on before pushing her away and then leading her on again and then pushing her away…he could be the biggest asshole on the planet when he wanted to be and she had seen more of that side to him than she would have ever liked to.

"Sweetie he's no good for you," Natalya said gently. "I mean he can be a great guy when he wants to be but-"

"He's a dick," Taylor declared unhappily. "Who's gay one second and then totally in love with Mom the next." She glanced over at Mindy, who was talking to Kelly on the other side of the store. "He don't know what he wants. He fucking just…I can't even…he drives me insane." She sniffled and folded her arms over her chest. "He says he can't be with me because he's gay but he hasn't even been with a guy since he figured out he was in love with Mom. He just sits around and pines over her and it's SICK. He CAN'T have her James WON'T let him near her he'll kill him but he don't get it!"

"I know," Natalya said sympathetically. "Lawsons are stubborn believe me. I've known them since I was a kid I know what they're like."

"And like, he says he's always been gay since he was a kid-"

"That one was true. He knew like right away. First crush was his gym teacher."

"But like, he fell for Mom. He fell for a WOMAN."

"They had that super close relationship before he realized it," Nattie said with a nod. "I think we should have all saw the signs back then. It was like subconsciously happening."

"I don't CARE if it was subconscious. He fell for her. And then he wanted her and then raped her and then he wanted to keep Jeff but he was still in love with her and then he would give me mixed signals and then say he was gay and then like make-out with Mom when James wasn't around…I don't GET it! It don't make ANY kind of sense. He drives me crazy I HATE him."

"No sweetie, you don't," Natalya said with a shake of her head. "You want to but you don't. You love him."

"I don't want to."

"Love don't care what you want. It has a mind of its own." Nattie grabbed a white dress from the rack and held it up to Taylor before frowning and putting it back. "Take it from someone that used to be in love with him-"

"You were in love with him? When?"

"When I was thirteen. My first love. I was pathetic over him it was embarrassing." Nattie's cheeks turned slightly pink at the thought of that time period. "You just have to throw yourself out there. Find someone who'll treat you the way you want to be treated. Someone who don't have a shit ton of baggage."

Taylor snorted. "You make it sound so easy…"

"It's not, believe me. But you gotta do it. Don't be like him and pine over something you clearly can't have. That's only going to cause you more pain than any boy is ever worth."

…

"Daddy when was the last time you cleaned out your desk?" Thorn asked as she and Scarlett stacked up the papers that were all over the floor. James was sitting at his desk, going over papers he had just gotten faxed to him from Likansuk. Thorn and Scarlett had come in wanting to help so he had let them get into his desk drawers and were letting them organize it so he could figure out what he still needed to keep and what he could just throw away.

" I have no idea," he replied honestly. He tapped his pen against the desk and looked at the pictures of Mindy and the kids he had all over the place. "I think back when the dinosaurs were still roaming the earth."

Scarlett smirked and crawled up into his lap. "Was it like Jurassic Park Daddy?"

"Nah. Much scarier." James hugged her with one arm and moved her long blonde hair out of the way so he could kiss her cheek.

She frowned and leaned forward so she could get a better look at what he was doing. "What is this exactly Daddy?"

"Just boring stuff from the office. I haven't even really read what it is."

She pouted her lips and frowned even more. "Why do you still have that stupid company Daddy? You hated Grandpa and you hate it I don't know why you keep it."

"Well I'm just kind of used to having it so-"

"Well I used to have chicken pox but I didn't get used to owning THOSE now did I?"

James chuckled under his breath. "No you didn't." He kissed her temple and pushed his paperwork off to the side. He would deal with it later. "Did you two finish your homework?"

"Mhm!" Thorn answered from the floor. "We did Daddy."

"Good girls."

"Will you watch a movie with us Daddy?" Scarlett asked.

"Which movie?"

"I don't know. It'll be a surprise."

That meant it was going to be something insanely girly that he didn't personally care for but he smiled and nodded anyway. "Of course." What else would he do? Their stuff wasn't completely horrible. If he was more like Cooper or Connor he'd like die watching half the stuff they made him watch but it was more whatever to him at this point. Living in a house full of women changed him. He cleaned, there was pink stuff all over the place and he knew more about girly and kiddy films than he ever thought he would.

"Daddy?" Thorn climbed up on his lap as well and shoved a photograph in his face. "Who's this?"

He blinked and the color drained out of his face. She had found the one picture of Caroline he had. He had forgotten that he still had that picture. It was ancient of this point, taken way back when he had been an infant. She certainly hadn't been holding him in the picture. She was sitting on the couch, glaring at the person taking the picture. This was the only one he had ever been able to get his hands on. She completely despised getting her picture taken she would freak out when a camera came even remotely her way. "That's uh…that's my mom."

"Grandma?" Scarlett took the photo from Thorn and studied it closely. "Why does she look so angry?"

"She was always angry," he replied with a shrug. "It just how she was."

"Did she make that face all the time?"

"Pretty much."

"She had a lot of wrinkles then," Scarlett said knowingly. "You can't make that face like that all the time and expect your skin to be smooth." Of all the things to point out THAT was what she went with.

"Why did she hate you Daddy?" Thorn asked. "Mommy said Grandma hated you but she never said why."

Oh THAT was the question of the century. He had asked that himself a thousand times over the course of his childhood. The answer he got was pretty much the same each time: he was a worthless waste of space she never wanted in the first place. Nothing he did was ever enough to please her. He tried so very hard to make her happy but it had all been rejected-often violently so. "She was a cunt," he answered, deciding to go with the easiest of answers. "She hated everybody." He took the picture back and put it back in the drawer. He should have gotten rid of it but for whatever reason, he couldn't seem to part with it. It was kind of stupid and sick at this point, given everything Caroline had done to him in life and in death but he still couldn't bring himself to part with it. "Come on. Let's go watch that movie."


	3. Chapter 3

**cathy **and **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **Vermillion Lynn**: Yeah, Nattie and Cooper are ancient news. I've only really mentioned them in like one other story because not only did it go nowhere but she's long over him. Unfortunately for poor Taylor, she's gonna have a harder time than Nattie did. **jadeMK11:** We hope she can find someone else but the problem is that she does still love Cooper, even if she knows he's a dick and this won't go anywhere.

...

James and Mindy rode down the beach together, her on her white Arabian horse Cotton and him on the much more massive Spade. They were in Malibu so the backyard to the pink mansion was their own beach. Spade and Cotton stayed in little houses built for them, which looked like little cottages all their own. Mindy had been teaching James how to ride since she loved to do it and he was getting the hang of it, no matter how many jokes and comments he said to the contrary. "Soooo Baby Doollll…" James drawled out really slowly to make her giggle.

"Yes Jaaaaaaamie?" she replied, poking her tongue out between her teeth at him.

"How did your shopping trip go?"

"Very good."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too baby. That's why I got a new red dress just for you to take off and I went to Victoria's Secret too."

"Really?" James perked right up at that.

"Mhm!"

"Well that's great Baby Doll. I think we should go out tonight. Celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"Your new purchases of course. I mean, you got yourself a pretty new dress we have to wear it to SOMETHING."

Her brow furrowed a little bit. "Why don't I just put it on in our room and let you take it off there?"

"Because we've not only got a house full of babies but a moody Cooper, a pain in the ass Connor and Nattie and Kelly still haven't left. Not EVERYONE knows how to leave us alone for the whole night." That did have some truth to it. They had seven children, eight if they counted Connor. While the kids knew better than to come into Mommy and Daddy's room at this point, if they wanted to get frisky anywhere else in the house for the simple fact that there was so many people. And there were times they got interrupted in their own room, because Taylor was the only other responsible adult in the house and even she couldn't keep things under control all the time. And then there was Aiden, who was starting to sense when he was not in Mommy's arms during the night. They would put him in a crib while they fooled around but there had been a couple of times he had woken up and started crying, not stopping until he was back in Mindy's arms. His mommy attachment was clearly becoming a thing even though he wasn't even a year old yet. "Come on Baby Doll." He reached out with one hand and took one of hers off the reigns so he could kiss it. "We'll get something to eat and have a nice romantical night in our very own hotel room."

"Where would we eat?"

"I don't know. Somewhere nice? I mean, you got your pretty dress and I could-"

"I want McDonalds."

James' eyebrows went up. "McDonalds?"

"Yes. I want McDonalds." Of course. She gets a pretty new dress and THAT was where she wanted to go. He wasn't going to object though. He liked McDonalds just fine and if that was where she really wanted to go then who was he to object? He would make sure the room they got was set up nice and romantic and they could gorge on fast food. Sounded great to him.

"Okay Baby Doll," he agreed with a smile. "McDonalds it is."

…

"Soooo you and James are having a night out?" Kelly asked with a girlish giggle. She was in the kitchen with Mindy, feeding Vanessa while Mindy sat with Aiden in her arms. He had her head resting on her shoulder and was cooing contently. Elizabeth was sitting at her feet, playing with Mindy's old cat Fievel.

"Mhm!" Mindy said brightly. "He's changing right now. We cannot change together because then we'll never leave our room."

Kelly snickered. "I think we all knew that one. Are you wearing your new dress?"

Mindy nodded. "Jamie said he would get something that matched though it don't matter."

"Why? You having a date in his car again?" They had done that one plenty of times before. His Lamborghini in particular was their own sexual playground. Nobody but them even bothered to go in it anymore. It just wasn't safe really.

"McDonalds and hotel room," Mindy corrected. "He was on the phone yelling at the hotel people to do stuff earlier to make it all nice."

"Awwww." Kelly put the bottle down and put a rag over her shoulder so she could burp Vanessa. "He's so sweet."

Aiden moved his head back so he could look at Mindy and cooed loudly. "What's that Aiden?" she immediately asked in a cutesy baby voice. "You think Daddy's a sweetie too? Huh? Do you think Daddy's a big sweetheart?"

Aiden leaned his face in real close for a kiss and Mindy happily showered him with them. So far all of her and James' kids had taken after him but Aiden especially did. He was an exact clone of his father. They had compared what baby pictures James had of himself to Aiden and they literally couldn't tell the difference. James was essentially getting a do-over through Aiden and Mindy openly showered him with all the love and affection that James craved as a child but could never get from Caroline.

"Well Nattie and me won't mind helping Taylor watch the babies," Kelly told her. "Hell, we could give her the night off and take charge. Connor actually behaves around Nattie-"

"How she gets him to I don't know," Mindy said with a shake of her head. "He's impossible."

"How she gets him to I don't know," Mindy said with a shake of her head. "He's impossible."

"He adores Nattie," Kelly said with a shrug. "He adored Taryn too and I think he's starting to get a little crush on Taylor."

"Oh Jesus son of a Christ." Mindy slapped a hand to her forehead, making Aiden frown and drop his head on to her chest. "Just what she needs. She's already still stuck on Cooper she don't need Connor bothering her too."

"Have you tried talking to Cooper?"

Mindy shook her head. "He just gets weird and pisses me off. I tolded him that I'm married to Jamie I LOVE Jamie but he don't want to listen to me. It makes Jamie mad. He's hitted Cooper when he catches him looking at me."

"Good."

"I think he just ends up making it worse."

"I think living here with you guys makes him worse," Kelly told her. "I mean I know you care about Cooper and don't want him out on his own-"

"He got on DRUGS!" Mindy reminded him.

"And he's becoming an ALCOHOLIC here!" Kelly countered. "And he's turned into an ASS. I don't know whether it's the booze or just him being a butthead but he's NOT pleasant to be around. All he does is mope."

"So what do you want me to do?" Mindy asked. "Throw him back out on the street so he can become an addict again?"

"Get him a different house at least. I mean, he's nearly thirty; if he's gonna be weak and be a drug addict that's gonna have to be his deal. But James hates having him here, the kids don't like him, Connor's even avoiding him and Taylor is probably miserable having to see him every day." Kelly reached out and gently played with Mindy's hair. "I know you don't want something bad to happen to Cooper. But Taylor's getting hurt and your husband is driven nuts by him-and I honestly don't think that we can trust him around you."

"He hasn't touched me," Mindy said immediately. "He hasn't touched me since Jamie beated him up at the hospital in Texas."

"But who's to say that he won't try something again in the future?" Kelly had to ask. "I mean, he's done it before…" Her voice trailed off as the door opened and James came into the room. He hadn't been listening in to the conversation so he was confused as to why they suddenly went quiet. "What?" he said in confusion.

"Hi Jamie!" Mindy jumped up to her feet and hugged him. He had put on a dark red button up dress shirt and plain black jeans to try to go with her dress and he had slicked his hair back since he knew she preferred it. "You gotted all handsome."

"Am I not handsome usually?" he asked with a bit of a pout.

"Of course you are. But you gotted even MORE handsome."

"Yeah well I had to get all pretty for you." He kissed the top of her head and hugged her tight, scooping Lizzie up into his arms as well when she came walking over. "Heeeey Lizzie Bear!"

"Daddy!" She had Fievel in her arms and she shoved the poor cat right into James' face. "Look! I have KITTY!"

"I SEE that Lizzie." He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her close. In the months following the kidnappings of Mindy and Elizabeth, James was watching everyone like a hawk, those two especially. Mindy had pretty much blocked the whole ordeal out of her mind and James had no problem with that. He himself was haunted by that ordeal but he sure as hell didn't want HER to go through that. As for Lizzie, despite everyone assuring him that she was too young to ever remember the whole thing, he was terrified of her having any recollection of her time in captivity. The bastard was dead, he couldn't hurt them again. James had seen to THAT. They didn't even know his name and they weren't looking to find out. They wanted it put behind them. He was slaughtered and that was that. "Do you like the kitty?"

"Yes!" She dropped her head on to his shoulder and he grinned and kissed her again before kissing Mindy and Aiden as well.

"Awwww," Kelly said, giggling loudly and getting James' attention.

"Yooo Babs, you know what you and Nat are feeding the kids?"

She shook her head. "I thought pizza would be good but I don't know what kind they all want…"

"Well I know how to find out."

"Oh no…" Mindy quickly covered Aiden's ears and Lizzie took the hint and pressed one ear against James' shoulder and covered the other with the ear that wasn't holding Fievel.

"KIIIIIIIIIDIEEEEEEEES! ATTENHUUUUUUUUUUUT!"

Kelly stared at him incredulously while Mindy just rolled her eyes. "He spent a week training them to do this…"

"WHAAAAAT?" Connor came barreling into the room, sliding across the floor in his socks and nearly falling on his ass. Snoopy was right on his heels and he slid down on to his butt as he came to a stop.

"Whooooaaaaa!" Amber came next and she slid right into Connor, grabbing on to him to keep herself from falling.

"Daddy!" Thorn and Scarlett came running and sliding next, colliding right into Amber. Oxa was with them and she slid right over on to Snoopy, who yelped and whined.

"What in the world…" Kelly said under her breath, shaking her head before giving him yet another incredulous look. "What is the point of that?"

"It's amusing," James replied, opening the cookie jar and passing out their rewards.

"It's free cookies," Thorn said happily.

"Daddy!" Chelsea came in last, decked out in her mother's sunglasses and James' shoes. They were way WAY too big for her there was no possible way that she could have ran like the others.

"Princess!" James set Elizabeth down so she could run to Kelly and show her Fievel and then picked up Chelsea and nommed her cheek. His shoes fell right off her feet when he did it. "Whoopsies." He nommed her cheek again and kissed the tip of her nose. "Soooo, my lovely lovely childrens, we need to know what kind of pizza you all want so Aunt Kelly and Aunt Natalya can order it for you."

"Anchovies!" Connor yelled.

"Pepperoni," Amber said as she gave Connor her usual disgusted look when it came to his pizza habits.

"Pineapple!" Thorn and Scarlett chimed in.

"French fries!" Chelsea announced, making James shake his head at her.

"You mean you want French fries WITH your pizza," he corrected gently.

"Yes!" she said. "I want pizza and French fries."

"I want chocolate dunky thingies," Connor announced.

"Well you have to SHARE then," James informed him. "You don't share you're not getting them ever again." He reached into his wallet and handed Kelly one of his credit cards. "Use this to pay."

She immediately shook her head. "Oh no you don't have to-"

"Their our kids so I'm paying," James said, putting the card in her hand and not giving her any more chance to object. "I don't know what Taylor likes so you'll have to talk to her."

"You should learn what she likes," Mindy said as she nestled her head into his chest. "She's our baby too you have to know what she likes." Technically Taylor was adopted and not his child at all but Mindy didn't see things that way. She treated her like she was her own and she was getting after James to do the same thing.

"I'll work on it," he said with a sigh.

Mindy's itty bitty pinky was shoved into his face. "Promise?"

He hooked his pinky with hers and kissed it. It was the sacred pinky he had to kiss it. "Promise."

…

Cooper watched James and Mindy leave from his bedroom window, shaking his head as they went. Mindy had on a red cocktail dress with sequins up on her chest and James was making a show of groping her all the way out to the car. Mindy was laughing about it and leaning all up against him but Cooper was disgusted. He hated the way James acted. He was a grown man with a mentally ill wife and a boatload of kids yet he still acted like he was a horny teenager. It was disgusting really but he was the only one that seemed to have a problem with it. The others spent all their time calling them "cute" or just accepting that that was the way they were.

He waited until the car was gone before getting up and venturing out of his room. He couldn't go out tonight like he normally did since his leg was still fucked up. Around his room he had foresaked his crutches to just hop around on one leg but to go downstairs he reluctantly began to use them once again. It was hard as hell getting down the stairs but he managed it, going into the kitchen where the others all were. CandyLand was set up on the table and they were playing on teams. It appeared to be Natalya and Connor vs. Amber and Thorn vs. Taylor and Chelsea vs. Kelly and Scarlett. Natalya had Elizabeth in her lap and she was just chewing Lammy and attempting to steal the pieces and the cards off the board so she could chew on them. Kelly had Aiden in her arms and he was chewing on his stuffed elephant that still didn't have a name. Vanessa was asleep in her carrier at Taylor's feet and Oxa and Snoopy were standing guard over her.

"Hiya Coopy!" Connor said, actually greeting him for once. "You gotta watch the door okay? Our pizza is coming." Ah. Of course. He didn't actually want to see him. He just wanted him to deliver the food. That was just fantastic.

"What kind did you get?" Cooper didn't want to admit it but he was hungry. He hadn't eaten much today.

"Two pineapple, two pepperoni, one anchovy and one meat lovers," Natalya recited off.

"Meat Lovers? Dad isn't here-"

"I like it," Natalya said with a shrug. "And Lizzie does too soooo there you go."

"Like Daddy!" Lizzie exclaimed, throwing her arms out happily.

"Yes," Nattie said, tickling Lizzie's belly and making her squeal loudly. "You eat just like your daddy."

"Da da da!" Lizzie grabbed the nearest piece and attempted to jam it into her mouth.

"Lizzie!" Scarlett snatched the piece out of Elizabeth's hand and shook her head. "STOP that you're going to end up choking to death and DYING!"

"MINE!" Elizabeth tried to take the piece back and started to cry when Scarlett didn't hand it over. "MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!"

"Nooo Lizzie sssshhh…" Natalya tried to desperately calm the screaming toddler back down when the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here!" Connor yelled. "Get it Coopy get it get it get-"

"Alright alright I'm GOING just shut UP!" Cooper turned around and headed to the door, the vein by his eye throbbing from all the yelling. If this kept up it was going to be a VERY long night.

…

James and Mindy walked hand in hand into McDonalds, getting all kinds of stares from the people around them. It was not the first time they had been seen there by any means but they looked more like they were out on a fancy date as opposed to a fast food run. They ignored the looks though and went right up to the counter to order. "Can I help you?" the young woman at the register asked.

"I want chicken nuggets and French fries," Mindy announced as James scanned through the menu to see what he wanted. "And I want star shaped chicken nuggets." James immediately stopped looking at the menu and switched his attention to his wife. He was already starting to snicker. She had pulled shit like this before and he honestly didn't mind. Most guys would get embarrassed or annoyed but not him.

"Um…we don't make star shapes-"

"Yes you do," Mindy said brightly.

"No-"

"Well then you will," James said bluntly. He wrapped his arm around Mindy and gave the other girl a sharp look. "My wife wants star shapes and she will get them."

"But sir we don't-"

"Look, you can either just make the star shapes or I could take it up with the manager. Or hell, I could come back there myself and start making stars-you REALLY don't want me to come back there though, believe me." He said that pleasantly enough but his eyes told her that he was not joking.

"I'll um…I'll see what we can do."

"You're damn right you will." James wrapped his arm around Mindy and kissed the top of her head. "And get me a Big Mac while you're at it. Super size the fries-and don't tell me you don't do that anymore because you WILL."

"My Jamie likes fries," Mindy said with a nod. "He needs lots of them."

"Damn right I do."

…

"Why are we watching this?" Cooper complained. CandyLand had been put away and they were in the living room watching Valentine's Day. He thought with the stupid holiday being over that he could escape from this crap but apparently not. The girls wanted to watch this romantic comedy bullshit and he didn't even get a say in the matter. He had been hoping that Connor would throw a fit about it but in a surprising turn of events, Connor hadn't raised a fuss. He was too busy sharing his pizza with Snoopy and Spike to give a shit what they watched.

"Because it's a good movie," Thorn answered without taking her eyes off the TV screen. She was on the couch sitting in between Oxa and Scarlett. "Maybe you should watch it instead of bitch."

"Yeah," Scarlett agreed. "We don't want to hear it."

Cooper repressed his annoyed look by shoving his face with food. He didn't know why he bothered being down here with everyone. He hadn't been enjoying himself. But sadly he had nothing else better to do so down here he stayed, being a grouchy pants. It was better than dying of boredom at least.

"You know, if you're going to be down here, you're not just going to sit there and mope," Natalya informed him. "You're going to be good and not annoying."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." She leaned over and punched him on the arm hard. "Since you're an ass you have to be the dragon when we play later."

"…Fuck you Nat. I'm not being a dragon."

"Oh yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"You can't make me."

"Wanna bet?"

Cooper swallowed hard in spite of himself. Shit, he had definitely just dug his own damn grave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer: **Exactly. Cooper should know better by now. **Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you! **RRatedauthor**: Fievel is a real kitty. Mindy saved him out of a ditch when she was seventeen. Nobody knows what Cooper needs-or at least what he needs to effectively make him stop his shit. Everything they do seems to not work. **Vermillion Lynn**: Exactly. Kelly's the voice of reason here that REALLY needs to be listened to, though I don't think it'll happen before more pain is caused :((

...

James and Mindy entered the Malibu Beach Inn with her in his arms in a wedding carry. This was their date there was no way she was doing more walking than necessary and there was no way they were going to some cheap ass hotel. Oh no, they went to one of the nicest places he could find. They had been living in Malibu for months now and he was adjusting well to the beach, mostly because Mindy loved it so much. Vegas had been his home for so long but now Mindy was his home; if she really wanted to she could have him living in Antarctica with just a word. The hotel was located on a strip of seashore called "Billionaire's Beach", which spoke for itself what kind of crowd stayed in there. An older looking couple gave James and Mindy quite the look when they came in but they were completely ignored. James got their key from the front desk and carried Mindy to their room. He had gotten them one of the Ocean Front suites and he smiled as her large blue eyes lit up when they got inside it. The room had a cream colored carpet and beige walls that were decorated with framed pictures. The living area of the room had earthy toned furniture, a black coffee table, black desk, one of those spinning chairs James was like obsessed with, a fireplace and a 32 inch plasma TV. Just outside the sliding glass doors was a balcony overlooking the private beach. The room was decorated with rose petals per James's request and the room was stocked with extra wine (it already came with seven different bottles but he made them put in even more) along with cheese because Mindy liked it with her wine and bread so she could make sandwiches.

"Jamie's it's BEAUTIFUL!" The moment he set her down she ran around the room, twirling around in a circle and laughing. She flopped down on the couch, kicking her feet up happily as her eyes fell on the wine and cheese display that had been set up for them. "Ooooh!"

"Like it Baby Doll?" James snagged two wine glasses and one of the bottles so he could pour themselves some.

"I love it." She kissed him as he sat down. "You planning on getting me drunk Jamie darling?"

"What if I was?" He wasn't planning on getting her wasted by ANY means because spending the night holding her hair as she puked wasn't his idea of romantic.

"Then you best be taking advantage of me," she replied.

He smirked and poured them both some of the wine before setting the bottle down and lightly clinking his glass with hers. "Believe me, I'll be ALL over that."

…

"I can NOT believe you're making me do this," Cooper grumped under his breath. Dinner was over and now it was playtime. Just like Nattie had promised (or threatened, in his mind) he was indeed the dragon. They had actually held him down and painted him green and then attached some wings to him that Connor had made. They were playing fairy tales or some kind of stupid game like that. They had built a castle out of pillow and blankets and they had blue blankets stretched all the way around it to signify a moat and pillows to make the bridge that goes across the moat. He was perched up on the back of the couch for his role as the evil dragon that kept the kingdom in terror.

"Oh shut up," Natalya said with a roll of her eyes. She was sitting in James's chair, holding a large book in her hand since she was the narrator. Amber was the queen and there would be no king because Connor had to be the horse and Aiden was too young to play. He and Vanessa were seated comfortably with Kelly, who was watching the whole thing. Taylor was playing the prince because they needed somebody to fight the dragon and Thorn, Scarlett and Elizabeth were playing fairies and Chelsea was the princess of course. There would be hell to be raised if shit didn't go that way. "Quit complaining. Being the dragon is not the worse thing that could happen."

"It's not?" He had a hard time believing that one. "I'm being SLAIN in this shit."

"And that's bad because…?" Amber was wearing a poofy red ball gown that she had worn before while performing with her mother onstage and Mindy's tiara to boot. She was standing next to Taylor, who had her hair pulled back into a bun and was wearing a button up shirt that belonged to James and a pair of her dress pants. She was holding a toy sword Connor had found up in his room.

"Can we start now?" Thorn asked impatiently.

"Yeah," Scarlett chimed in. "We want to play NOW!"

"Okay okay okay calm down," Nattie said, opening her book so she could "read" the fairy tale they were acting out. "Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom called Lawsondonia-" she glared at Cooper who snickered loudly as she said that "and in Lawsondonia lived a beautiful queen and a beautiful princess."

Amber straightened herself up to full height and curtsied while Chelsea pointed to herself with her thumb and gave them all a haughty look. "I'm Princess."

"And the queen and the princess lived in the biggest castle in all the land."

"The only castle," Amber corrected as she sat down in her "throne" and patted the top of Oxa's head. "We're the only royalty the peasants don't get castles."

"Fine. They lived in the biggest and only castle in all the land. They had all kinds of servants and pets and beautiful dresses that they got to wear every day."

"And popcorn," Chelsea added. She had a tub of three different kinds of popcorn that James had gotten her and she happily reached down with the arm that wasn't holding her constantly struggling red panda Stickers and grabbed a handful of that popcorn and shove it into her mouth.

"And popcorn," Nattie added. "But the kingdom, while great, had one big problem, in the form of a dragon."

All eyes went to Cooper and he just stared at them blankly. "What?" he said after a moment.

"You're supposed to roar Coopy!" Connor said impatiently.

"Hey hey hey! Horsies DON'T talk!" Amber gave Connor the evil eye before glaring at Cooper. "You're supposed to roar."

"Ah right." He did NOT want to do this but forced himself to let out what he thought was a nice roaring sound-too bad it was completely half hearted in reality.

Natalya rolled her eyes and kept on going. "Every day he would fly around the kingdom, picking off villagers one by one to eat or burn." She gave Cooper a sharp look. "Fly buddy."

"Do I have to?"

"If you don't get up I'm kicking your ass."

Knowing that wasn't an idle threat, Cooper reluctantly jumped off the couch and began flapping his wings (he had to just move his arms up and down because the wings Connor made didn't work for shit). He swooped in on Kelly and the babies, making roaring and nomming noises to act like he was eating them. Kelly screamed playfully while Vanessa looked at him with startled eyes and Aiden whacked him in the eye with his tiny fist. Yep…he was James's child alright.

"The dragon had to be stopped," Nattie said, making her tone become more dramatic. "But there were no brave knights to be had in Lawsondonia so Queen Amber enlisted the help of three magic fairies."

"That's us!" Thorn said, jumping up and down with Scarlett and Elizabeth. "We're the fairies and we're here to help!"

"Find me a brave knight," Amber ordered, pulling Chelsea up into her lap and keeping her from trying to chase after Fievel. "I need a knight to slay the evil dragon."

"And with those words, the fairies were off on their search." Nattie grinned as the twins and Chelsea ran around in a circle, which constituted as their search. "They searched far and wide before finding a young prince that could come and slay the evil beast."

"That's our cue," Taylor whispered to Connor. She tried to get on his back so she could ride into the scene but he got overexcited and pushed himself up on his knees before she was properly seated and had a grip on him. So while he was neighing and waving his hands around like a wild animal, she fell straight back on the floor, banging her head pretty hard in the process.

"Connor!" the girls all yelled while Cooper put a hand over his mouth to hide that he was laughing. Connor glanced back at what he did and winced sheepishly.

"Whoops."

…

Mindy and James were making out on the couch, their wine temporarily forgotten on the table in front of them. His hands were only on her chest at this point, squeezing and kneading her breasts through her dress. He was a total tit man; he couldn't seem to do anything with her without his hands or mouth being on her breasts. She appreciated it at least; she spent enough money getting the implants it was nice to know SOMEBODY appreciated them. They kissed slowly, not in any rush at the moment. Sure once the clothes started coming off they would get a hell of a lot more animalistic and shit but for now they were taking their time.

"Jamie?" Her little fingers were clasped in his longish hair. He didn't keep it long enough to be totally ridiculous but gave her enough to pull on.

"Yeah?" They were both a little buzzed from the wine though he had to drink a lot more than her to achieve that affect.

"I wanna dance."

"Dance?" James traced his thumb over her bottom lip and grinned when she bit at it. "You wanna dance Baby Doll?"

"Mhm!"

"You know I'm not that great at it."

"You dance just FINE Jamie."

"I don't-"

"You DO. You say you can't sing and dance but you can."

"I can find a hundred people that disagree with you on that."

"And they can go to hell because I'm your wife and I'm the only one that matters." She kissed him firmly on the lips before getting up and hooking her I-pod up to the adaptor thing so she could start skimming through her selection. She had all kinds of shit on her I-pod and James leaned forward, pretty curious as to what she would put on. She ended up going with Flo Rida and she happily went back over to him so she could pull him up to his feet. "Come on Jamie. Get up get up get up!"

"Okay okay Baby Doll I'm up." He got up to his feet and went into the center of the room with her.

_Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh_

_Sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah_

_I get a feeling that I never never never never had before_

_No no_

_I get a good feeling, yeah_

_Oh oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah_

_I get a feeling that I never never never never had before_

_No no_

James placed his hands on Mindy's hips and began to move with her. In all honesty he wasn't nearly as bad of a dancer as he thought he was. And quite frankly, being good at it wasn't a requirement in this setting. Mindy turning around and intentionally grinding her ass against his groin was going to be turning this whole situation into a different kind of dance.

_Yes I can, doubt that I leave_

_I'm running with this plan_

_Pull me, grab me_

_Crabs in the bucket can't have me_

_I'll be the president one day_

_January first, oh, you like that gossip_

_Like you the one that drinking what God sip dot com_

_Now I gotta work with your tongue_

_How many rolling stones you want_

_Yeah I got a brand new spirit_

_Speak it and it's done_

Mindy grinded into James harder, making him groan lowly and grind back even harder against her. His hands were running up and down her body, pulling the hem of her dress up a bit before going to her breasts and squeezing them firmly.

_Woke up on the side of the bed like I won_

_Talk like a winner, my chest to that sun_

_G5 dealer, US to Taiwan_

_I hope you say that, I wanna play back_

_Mama knew that I was a needle in a haystack_

_A Bugatti boy, plus Maybach_

_I gotta feeling, it's a wrap, ASAP_

James's hands went back to the hem of Mindys dress, effortlessly pulling it off over her head to leave her in her red lace bra and panties. His cock was rock hard inside of his pants but he ignored that for the moment in favor of still dancing with her. He pressed himself hard up against her, smirking at the way she moaned. "Baby Doll…"

She suddenly turned around, pushing him down on to the nearest chair before straddling his lap. Her hands started working on getting his shirt unbuttoned while she continued to move her hips, shamelessly rubbing her panty covered pussy against his groin.

"Oh fuck Baby Doll…" Moaning and forgetting all about the song that was playing, he arched his hips up and humped against her desperately. He helped her get his shirt off and once it was tossed to the floor he picked her up and got up out of the chair, getting them to the bed in record time.

…

"Waaah!" Taylor shouted as she swung the plastic sword at Cooper, who was jumping around on one leg and flapping his arms to act like he was flying. They were in the midst of having their big fight scene and he was taunting the fuck out of her in this whole process. She didn't know if he was finally getting into this whole thing or if he was just fucking with her in particular. It was really hard to tell anything with him these days. He made her head hurt something fierce. What she did know was that she wasn't enjoying being around him. She had confessed her love to him and he had pretty much shit all over her. She had been avoiding him as much as possible but the sad fact was, she was stuck in the same house as him. She couldn't avoid him one hundred percent of the time. She was stuck dealing with him because Mindy wouldn't kick him out of the house like they all wanted.

With that in mind, she accidentally and probably subconsciously (or perhaps not so accidentally) she whacked him right in the face as hard as she could with the sword. His lip busted on impact and he yelped, falling back on the couch and nearly colliding with Kelly and the babies. "FUCK!"

"Ooooh shit," Natalya said with a wince.

Taylor just stood there, her eyes wide as Cooper glared at her. "I'm so-"

He just growled and stormed out of the room, making them all wince as a door slammed shut behind him. A long awkward silence followed, which was eventually broken by Chelsea, who was completely oblivious as to what had really happened.

"Bye bye dragon!" Plopping down with Stickers, she nodded in approval while Amber just shook her head and played with her hair.

…

"Mmmm Jamie!" Mindy moaned happily as she rode James's fingers happily. They were completely naked on the bed now, laying in the sixty nine position. She was stroking his cock nice and hard while teasing the head with her tongue. He had three of his fingers inside of her, fucking her already drenched pussy as he nibbled and sucked on her clit. "Jamie Jamie Jamie!" She humped his face and fingers desperately and sucked on the head of his cock, teasing it with her tongue some more before taking more of him into her mouth.

"Oh fuck Baby Doll!" He fought the urge to thrust up into her mouth and fucked her faster with his fingers, sucking hard on her clit as she came. He slowly pulled his fingers out and licked them clean before sliding his tongue in between her folds and lapping away eagerly.

"James!" She humped his face harder, forcing him to grab her hips to keep her from breaking his nose. He spread her folds apart with his fingers so he could lap away at her as fast as he wanted to. She moaned again and sucked him harder, squeezing his balls lightly and rubbing her tongue against the vein on the underside of his cock. He moaned and licked her faster, sliding his tongue as deep in her as he could and rubbing the tip all against her walls. His fingers found her clit and he rubbed until his face was covered in her juices. He happily licked her clean and tried to keep going until she moved off him while still keeping her mouth around his cock. "Baby Doll?"

Her response was to suck him harder, bringing him nearly to orgasm before switching to stroking him again and resting the head of his cock against her lips so he would cum all over her face. "Jesus fuck Baby Doll…" He moaned and kept thrusting up into her hand, riding out his orgasm before ripping her up back towards him and kissing her hard.

…

"Cooper?" Taylor ventured upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. She had decided to come upstairs to check on him since somebody had to do it. Natalya had offered but she had gone up herself. It was dumb of her really. She shouldn't care. But part of her felt the need to apologize and see if he was alright. Stupid part that still cared. She wished she could be rid of it but couldn't shake it no matter how hard she tried. "Cooper?" She knocked on the door again before just letting herself in. He wasn't in there. "Cooper?"

The sound of the shower from the bathroom across the hall let her know where he was. He must have decided he didn't want to be green for the rest of the night. Sighing she closed his door and leaned back against the wall. She would just have to wait until he was done to talk to him.

…

"James!" Mindy's arms coiled around his neck as he thrusted smoothly into her. The poor people in the room next to theirs had to move because they were being so loud but they didn't give a shit. Mindy's legs were spread as far as they could go and James was on top of her, propped up on his arms so he wouldn't squish her. His lips dangled not even an inch above hers, his hair falling into his eyes until she moved it back and kissed him. He was fucking her hard and her hips were eagerly meeting his every thrust. He had already ate her out two more times so the sheets were drenched with her sex and god only knew what they were going to be like once the night was over. The poor maids were going to have to have a raise after dealing with this.

"Mmmm Baby Doll." He thrusted faster, every pump of his hips nice and smooth. His eyes glanced down to watch how his cock glistened with her wetness before kissing her once again. "Fucking so perfect Baby Doll. I love you so much baby I do."

"I love you MORE," she declared, reaching down to squeeze his balls as he kept thrusting.

"Love YOU more," he shot back. He kissed her on the mouth again before switching to her neck, leaving little love bites all over the smooth flesh. One of his hands drifted in between her legs to rub her clit. She clamped her legs around his waist suddenly, pulling him in deeper and nearly screaming as she came. He moaned loudly, managing to hold on so he could flip them over so she was on top now. His tongue lazily slid inside her mouth and his hands went on his hips to help her ride him. She kept her arms locked around his neck for a few minutes, making out with him before suddenly leaning back so far that her upper body was pretty much laying on his legs. Immediately her walls became a thousand times tighter around his cock.

"Fuck!" Gasping he thrusted even faster, his eyes nearly rolling into the back of his head because it felt so good. She arched his chest up, making him lean down to eagerly lick and suck on her chest. He teased her nipples into hardened nubs, thrusting even harder and cumming deep inside her. "Baby Doll!"

"Jamie!" She came again as well and he sat her back up so they could make out. She moved off of him so she could wrap his hand around her cock and stroke him, slow at first and then harder once he started thrusting into her hand. "Get hard for me Jamie that's it get hard…" She stroked him some more before turning away from him, getting on her hands and knees and arching her body while she rubbed her fingers against her wet pussy. Growling low in his throat, he came up behind her and thrusted back into her, ripping her head back by her hair and pressing his lips to hers once more.

…

It took forever but Cooper finally emerged from the bathroom dripping wet and paint free. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist; he hadn't grabbed new clothes before he had gone in. His eyes fell on Taylor after taking a few steps toward his room and his eyes narrowed as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "What do you want?" he asked.

She winced at his tone. He sounded pissed. His lip was all swollen from where she had hit him. She really had gotten him good. "How's your mouth?"

"How do you think it is?" He lightly touched it and shook his head at her. "Was that really necessary back there?"

"I'm sorry," she said meekly. "I didn't mean to."

"I'm sure you didn't." To her credit she really did look sorry but he was just too pissed off to even care. That had actually really hurt and he hadn't been in the best of moods to begin with.

"Cooper-" she watched him go into his room and since he didn't close the door behind him she went ahead and stepped into the room as well. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, playing dumb. He went to his closet and grabbed the first shirt he could find. He put it on and glanced over at her, realizing he couldn't take his towel off with her still in the room. As a rule he generally didn't have too much shame though her certainly had more than James. He just didn't think exposing that half to a chick that was in love with him was the brightest of ideas.

"You've been even more miserable than normal."

"Well I'm kind of stuck in a house full of people that hate my existence. Would YOU be happy here?"

She cringed a bit, knowing what needed to be said but knowing just as well that he wouldn't like it. "Cooper you kind of brought it on yourself-"

"DON'T start lecturing me," he snapped. "Please. I've heard this speech a thousand times and nobody stops repeating it."

"Because you don't listen! You've done practically nothing to make amends with Mr. Lawson, you-"

"Just stop Taylor, okay? I know what I've done. I don't need the riot act read to me I get that enough from Dad every fucking day of my existence."

She sighed, running a hand through her hair and taking out the bun she had it up in. "I'm sorry okay? It's just…it's like you go out of your way to make things harder for everyone and yourself. It's like you thrive on being unhappy and annoying everyone-"

"You know, just because we were friends once upon a time doesn't mean you know me. There's only one person that truly knows me-"

"And she's out with HER HUSBAND," she reminded, getting nasty because he was pissing her off. "The husband that she LOVES more than ANYTHING. She sold you out to him when you RAPED her and she sold you out to him when his dead mother was driving his body because HE was still in there-does that register to you at all?"

He didn't answer so she continued on.

"I mean I know you love her and stuff but you have to move on she's never going to love you back-"

He started to chuckle at those words. "You know, I find a certain amount of irony in YOU telling ME this."

"Oh shut up."

"Just telling it how it is. Maybe YOU should practice what you preach."

"You didn't even give me a chance-"

"There's no need to give you a chance," he said, just being mean now. "You're not her. She's the only woman I would ever…just because you used to impersonate her back when you spread your legs to any guy with some cash-"

SMACK! She belted him right across the face as hard as she could. "Fuck you," she growled. "FUCK you at least I'm not the sick freak that used to fuck his MENTALLY RETARDED brother!" She slapped him once again before turning on her heel and storming out, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Vermillion Lynn **and **Ilse'sPurpleSummer: **I second that. While it probably won't get through to him because he's such a stubborn ass, she at least stuck up for herself and didn't take his low blow bullshit. **Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11:** Aw it's okay. And lol yes it was.

...

Finally physically spent, James and Mindy had moved to the couch, his feet and almost all of his legs hanging over the edge since he was so tall and Mindy curled up on top of him. They really had gotten pretty crazy, practically fucking all around the room before finally just collapsing here. Maybe they would move back to the bed to sleep, maybe they wouldn't. No decision had been made on that yet. His fingers were playing where her mess of raven hair and her fingers were tracing the scar on his side. In the midst of her abduction the kidnapper had sent him a heart that was believed to be hers until it was discovered it was actually a pig's heart. The belief that she was dead had driven him over the edge and had caused him to attempt suicide by stabbing himself with the knife she had given him. A divine intervention had caused him to miss his major organs and keep him alive and he was able to learn that she was still alive and rescue her. "Baby Doll?" He kissed the top of her head, frowning when he saw the look on her face. "Baby Doll what is it? What's the matter?"

"You…you almost went away." She looked at him, her large blue eyes watering up at her own words. "You did I remember. You bleeded all over the place." She hadn't been there when he stabbed himself but when he rescued her he opened up his stitches and fucked himself up like crazy. They had to keep him strapped down to the bed so he wouldn't do any more damage to himself. "You were going to die Jamie you were-"

"Baby Doll ssssshhhh," he cooed. He didn't want her to get upset he couldn't stand it. It was like a knife to his chest. "Sweetheart-"

She balled up a fist and smacked him in the chest. "Why Jamie? Why would you DO that why would you do that you-"

"I wasn't going to live without you," he said, cupping her face in his hands and looking right into her eyes. "I can't. It's not possible. There's no me without you."

"Jamie-"

"I died the moment I thought you were gone. Baby Doll I couldn't…I wasn't going to let you be alone. I wouldn't ever let you go alone."

She sniffled and he pet her face gently, kissing her softly to reassure. "It's okay now though Baby Doll. It's okay. I didn't die. I'm right here." He kissed her harder and nodded at her. "I'm right here baby. I'm right here I'm not going anywhere."

"Someday-"

"Not for a very VERY long time," he said, cutting her off before she could get started. He sat up and cradled her in his arms as he got up and carried her to the bed. "I've got you and the babies I'm not going anywhere." He laid down with her, putting her back on top of his chest. He couldn't sleep any other way.

"I think you gotted me pregnant again."

"You showing symptoms Baby Doll?"

"No but after tonight I will be."

He chuckled lowly "Probably." He kissed her and hugged her closer to him. "I'll get my baby name list out again."

"You have to keep it in your pocket darling. In case of emergencies."

He snickered. "In case of emergencies? That makes it sound like the baby is just gonna like fall out of you at a moment's notice."

"We're going to have to like build on to the house you know."

"Hell if you have twins we'll officially have a baseball team."

She laughed and poked her tongue between her teeth. "You think we will have twins?"

He shrugged. "Well we're both one so probably. Eventually. Let's not be lame though and give them names that start with the same letter."

"Oh hell no," she immediately agreed. "We'll be cooler than that."

"Let's hope for fraternal twins while we're at it. I can tell them apart easier."

"You can tell Scarlett and Thorn apart…"

"Thorn always has Oxa though so it's not that hard to do it." He kissed her forehead and took her hand in his. "What about Georgia for a girl?"

"Georgia?" she repeated. "Like the state?"

He nodded. "If you don't like it-"

"Oh no Jamie darling I love it." She smiled reassuringly. "Georgia Lily Lawson."

He grinned. "Has a pretty ring to it."

"What if we have a boy?"

"Given the amount of girls in the house, I have to say we'll end up with another one. You shall completely overrun me and Aiden."

She grinned and poked him lightly on his chin. "You love it."

"Yeah…" he admitted. "I'm a slave to all my girls." He dipped her head back and kissed her gently, sparking a small make-out session. When they finally broke apart Mindy's brow was furrowed and she was petting his face gently.

"Jamie, I have to tell you something."

He frowned a bit. "What is it Baby Doll?"

"You know how I put out the new album?"

"Yeah."

"And I maded the music videos."

"Mhm." She had made two videos for two of the singles so far, one that came out about a month before the album itself was released and the other that came not too long ago.

"I gotted a call from a movie producer. They want to do a 3D concert of me."

James hadn't been expecting to hear that one. He had thought she was going to say something about someone wanting her to be the spokeswoman to something, which wouldn't have been good, especially if it had been a clothing line. The media and all the Hollywood types always gave her shit about her weight. She had a history of eating disorders because of her tainted self image and he sure as hell was not going to let her put herself through something like that again. "A 3D concert?"

She nodded. "They want to do the concert and do a behind the scenes thing on my next video and shoot some stuff with us at home." She saw him frown at that last part and she rushed herself along before he could even open his mouth. "I know you don't understand…"

"Understand what Baby Doll?"

"What it's like to miss it…I wanna perform Jamie. I know you don't want me in the spotlight no more but I wanna do this! Ambie was with me when I got the call and I tolded her and she was excited and the other babies will be excited too." She pet his face more as he sat up and cradled her in his arms once again. "I want this Jamie I do. I want this so much I do."

What could he say to that? He knew how she felt about performing. He hadn't ever wanted to deny her of it. He had pulled her from everything for her health and god forbid if it ever came to that again, he would make the same choice as before. "You really want this?"

She nodded.

"Okay." He smiled as her eyes brightened and she threw her arms around his neck. "Let's make you a movie."

…

Since Aiden and Vanessa (and sometimes Lizzie) slept in James and Mindy's room, they were divvied up between Taylor, Kelly and Natalya. Taylor had Lizzie and had pretty much locked them in her room so she could cry without anyone else knowing it. Natalya had Vanessa and Kelly had Aiden, who for some reason was still refusing to go to sleep at nearly four in the morning. "Aiden sweetie please," Kelly begged as she rubbed his back. She had been walking all around the house with him in hopes that he would fall asleep while she did it. No such luck though. He only had dozed for like a half hour tops and then had been fussing ever since. He wanted to sleep on his mother, not with Kelly.

Kelly carried him into the kitchen, thinking maybe if she fed him he would settle down. As she searched for his baby food, a cold draft hit her, making her feel like she had just been dipped in a pool of ice water. She shivered and held on to Aiden more tightly and glanced around, looking to see if someone had like left a window open or maybe suddenly turned the air conditioner on. She saw nothing though and when she checked the thermostat it was set the way it was supposed to be. Shaking it off, she got Aiden his food and started trying to feed him. He ate a couple of bites before looking over Kelly's shoulder and stopping. His eyes widened and he began to fuss. The cold draft she had felt before returned and she whirled around, the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up. She felt like she was being watched.

"Hello?" She took a glance back while trying to keep herself from shivering. "Who's there?"

Nobody answered. She tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid but the feeling that she was being watched refused to leave her. Swallowing hard, she scooped Aiden up into her arms and took his food with him. "We'll feed you in your room." She kissed his cheek and rushed upstairs, not feeling much better once the door was shut and locked behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer, jadeMK11 **and **Vermillion Lynn**: One guess Mark and another two for Cooper...whoooo could it be? Me no telling yeeeeet :))) **Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you!

...

"I do not know why he did not sleep for you," Mindy told Kelly with a frown. She and James had just gotten back not that long ago and she was holding Aiden in her arms, who had nestled his head on to her chest and was cooing sleepily. Natalya and Kelly were sitting across the table from Mindy, Kelly half asleep with her head resting on Nattie's shoulder. They were going to have to go to the airport soon but they were using what time they had left to talk to Mindy. "He usually sleeps so good." She looked over at James for support. "Doesn't he Jamie?"

"Yeah," James confirmed, looking up briefly to nod before going back to helping Thorn and Scarlett. They had a science project due so he was making them a paper mache volcano that would erupt when they mixed baking soda and vinegar. Technically they were supposed to be making it but they had wanted to practice for their recital so they were going come back out and paint the thing once it was done. "He sleeps real good."

"Maybe with you guys then," Kelly murmured. "Not me though." She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Poor baby," Mindy said, pouting out her lower lip. She looked down at Aiden, who was staring up at her with the hazel eyes that matched daddy's. He was so much like James it wasn't funny. "Why did you do that Aiden? Huh? Why didn't you sleep for Aunt Barbie? You sleep for Mommy don't you?"

"Mmmmmmm!" Aiden cooed.

"Can you say that Aiden? Can you sa Momma? Can you say it? Can you say Momma?"

"Mmmm!" Aiden garbled out some more baby noises before puckering his lips and Mindy immediately gave him a kiss.

"You almost got it boo boo. You do you almost got it." Mindy rubbed her nose against Aiden's and then let him rest his head back on her chest.

"So besides Aiden's foray into causing insomnia how did things go?" James asked. He still wasn't looking up from the project in front of him. The little boy in him was actually enjoying this. He had wanted to take a full diet Coke bottle and make the volcano from it so a Mentos could be dropped into it but a line had to be drawn with him. The twins' teacher would have gotten pissed with the mess THAT would have made.

"Alright," Natalya answered. "Cooper was being an ass-"

"That's nothing new," James interrupted with a snort. "That's his perpetual state of being."

"He and Taylor got into a fight last night," Natalya went on, looking at Mindy as she said that one. "She accidentally hit him in the mouth with a plastic sword when we were playing fairy tales-"

"Ha!" James said obnoxiously, earning himself looks from all three ladies.

"-and then they got into it later when she went to apologize." Natalya smoothed down some of Kelly's hair and glanced at her watch to see how much time they had left. "I heard her crying in her room last night but she wouldn't let me in."

"Oh Jesus son of Christ…" Mindy pinched the bridge of her nose and looked back at James. "You said you checked on her earlier…"

"Cuz she had Lizzie. She wasn't crying then though."

"Why didn't you get her to come out?"

"She told me she didn't feel good. Wasn't something that Lizzie could catch though. I assumed that meant she was having lady problems for something." James shrugged his shoulders and started putting the finishing touches on the volcano. "I don't do those kinds of problems. Not my area of expertise."

Mindy shook her head at him. "One of us will have to tell Cooper to stop being a butth-"

"I'll talk to him."

Mindy's eyebrows rose at the very fact that James had volunteered for that job. "YOU want to talk to him?"

"Hell no but I certainly don't want YOU talking to him," James replied. "I would trust a rabid dog around you before I trusted him."

Mindy frowned. "But you don't trust rabid doggies-"

"Exactly." He got back up to his feet and went to the sink so he could wash his hands. "I'm not having you anywhere near him."

"He might not listen to you," Mindy pointed out.

"And he won't hear a word you're saying either," James immediately countered. He finished washing his hands and dried them off with a towel. "He'll be too busy trying to act on his so called "love" for you." His lips curled in disgust as he said that last part and he walked over to Mindy, running one of his hands through her hair and leaning down so he could press a kiss to her lips. "He even looks at you the wrong way again he's dead. Don't even make me get started with what I'll do if he touches you."

"Total annihilation?" Natalya guessed.

"Utterly and completely." He started to head upstairs.

"James!" Kelly called out.

"What?" He stopped and turned back around.

"I think someone was creeping around watching me last night…Min says he creeps around sometimes at night and I know it couldn't be Connor or the babies cuz they would have said something. Could you-"

"Punching him in the face already."

Kelly blinked and slowly shook her head. "I was going to say talk to him but okay…"

Mindy shook her head and kissed the top of Aiden's. "He's looking for an excuse. He does that a lot now."

"Can't say I blame him," Natalya admitted with a shrug. "Not with the way Cooper is."

"They're going to rip each other's eyes out."

"Nah. James will have Cooper's arms off and will be beating his brains out with them before Cooper even touched his eyes."

…

James entered Cooper's room uninvited, using the skeleton key he had to get in since Cooper had the door locked. Much to James's annoyance, Cooper was still asleep. The curtains were practically nailed shut to keep all the sunlight out and his blankets were pretty much pulled up above his head. He could easily do this the whole entire day and not emerge until dinner time. James was well aware of that. That was why he had an ace in the hole.

He shut the door behind him, re-locking it so nobody could interrupt and then crept closer to the bed. Cooper didn't do so much as stir. Smirking, he took the air horn in his hand (which he had stolen from Connor-though god only knows where he got it) and held it right up to Cooper's ear, setting it off without warning and jarring the younger man out of his sleep so violently that he fell to the floor and banged his head. "Rise and shine fuckface," James said, obnoxiously sounding off the horn again. "Time to join us in the land of the living." He set off the horn in Cooper's other ear and cackled obnoxiously as he did it.

…

Mindy, who had just been about to knock on Taylor's door, cringed when she heard the air horn go off. "Connor!" she yelled in exasperation. She knew damn well he had it though she had no idea how he got it. "DON'T do that!" Thankfully Vanessa wasn't sleeping and was downstairs with Natalya or she would have really killed him.

The air horn went off again and she scowled, annoyed that Connor had defied her. "Connor Michael!"

"It wasn't ME!" Connor yelled defensively. "Daddy stole it!"

"Sorry Baby Doll!" Yep. James was the guilty party. Mindy shook her head at her husband before knocking on Taylor's door. "Sweetie?" She let herself in and found Taylor and Lizzie watching Madagascar on the TV in the room.

"Ma ma!" Elizabeth wiggled out of Taylor's grip and ran over to Mindy, hugging her legs. Mindy hugged her back but couldn't pick her up as well as hold Aiden so she took the toddler by the hand and lead her back to the bed so she could resume watching the movie. Taylor smiled weakly but it wasn't reaching her eyes and Mindy sighed and took her hand as she sat down.

"What happened? Nattie and Kelly told me Cooper was being a butthead…"

Taylor just shrugged her shoulders which made Mindy frown and force her to sit up. "I cannot help you if you do not talk to me."

"Unless you can give Cooper a personality transplant or make my feelings go away nobody can help me." Taylor sniffle and wiped her eyes, which were filling up with tears again. "I try not to let him get to me. That's what everyone says right? Don't let him get to me? They make it sound so EASY but it's NOT."

"I know it's not." Mindy adjusted her hold on Aiden and pet Taylor's hair gently. "But you should not cry over him you are too good for that. Cooper he…" she stopped to shake her head. "He likes to be nasty. He is not a very happy boy. I don't think he ever really was but he has gotten worse-"

"Since he can't have you." Taylor had a REALLY hard time masking the bitterness in her voice with that one. She loved Mindy; hell she ADORED Mindy. But the fact was that it was even harder to deal with Cooper knowing that he was completely in love with the woman who took her off the streets and gave her a home. For her and for Cooper it was hard as fuck. Cooper was stuck watching the obnoxious relationship James and Mindy had and Taylor was stuck watching Cooper pine over Mindy and get his nastiness over it taken out on her.

Mindy shrugged her shoulders uncaringly on that one. "Not my fault he can't get over me." Yes it was. Partly anyway. She had led him on and hooked up with him behind James's back for quite awhile. That had stopped though and if Cooper wanted to live it had to stay that way. James was looking for any excuse to forgo his promise to Mindy and kill him and THAT would certainly do it. "He was told no but he does not like to listen. He likes wanting what he can't have because it makes him sad. He wallows in self pity."

"He's gone through bad shit," Taylor said, defending him even though she had no reason to.

"We all have," Mindy said with a shrug. "Bub needs to pull himself together. We have shit and we deal and we move on."

"He missed the memo," Taylor said with a shake of her head. "I just don't know what to do. I tell myself to get over him but then I see him and I just like turn to jell-o."

"I like jell-o," Elizabeth announced, nodding happily and making Mindy smile.

"Yes sweetie I know. I will get you some later."

"Red."

"Yes you can have the red kind."

"Like Daddy." Elizabeth nodded at her own musings before returning her attention to her movie. Mindy kissed the top of her head and then kissed Aiden's cheek before looking at Taylor. "You should go on dates."

Taylor blinked, thrown off guard by that sudden declaration. "Dates?"

"Yes. Go out with other boys."

"From where? I don't go to school-"

"Fuck school. School is for losers." Mindy wrapped an arm around Taylor's shoulder, squeezing the seventeen year old tightly. "We will find you a nice boy and he will help you forget about Cooper."

"I don't know-"

"You will never get over him if you stay single and dwell," Mindy pointed out. "We will find you a nice boy who will make everything better."

Taylor was skeptical on that, given her experience with the male race but she stayed quiet and just dropped her head on Mindy's shoulder and nodded along. No point in arguing with Mindy. That was an uphill battle that was practically impossible to win.

…

"You get your hearing back yet?" James asked impatiently. "I'd like get this conversation over with some time today."

Cooper continued digging his fingers into his ears, his temples pounding from the ringing that just wouldn't stop. "You're an asshole," he declared.

"And your point is?" James kicked him in the leg since his ass was still on the floor. "Not here to please YOU fuckface."

"Why ARE you here?" Cooper said irritably. "How did you even get in the door was locked."

"Skeleton key idiot."

Cooper groaned. Of course. There had to be one in case Mindy had a schizo episode and locked herself in a room. "Well that don't answer why-"

"YOU got a bad behavior report from last night." James smacked him upside the head none too gently. "Got anything to say for yourself?"

"I-"

"GUILTY!" James smacked Cooper right across the face as hard as he could.

"Mother FUCKER!" Rubbing his cheek gingerly, Cooper gave James a hateful glare. "You really enjoy being such an jackass?"

James shrugged. "Not like YOU'VE done anything to earn any kindness." He pulled Cooper up by the scruff of his neck and sat him up on the bed. "So which do I address first? The Taylor thing or the Kelly thing?"

Cooper's brow furrowed in confusion. "What Kelly thing?"

"Kelly said you were creeping around watching her last night-"

"Whaaat? What the fuck are you even talking about?" Cooper was genuinely confused and if James hadn't mistrusted him so badly he would have seen that.

"Kelly said you were creeping around downstairs-"

"Bullshit." Cooper wasn't even letting him finish. "Bullshit I was never downstairs once I came up here last night. No way it was me."

"You have proof?"

"You mean like an alibi?" Cooper laughed in disbelief. "I need a fucking alibi? What am I , a murder suspect?"

"Might as well be in this house."

Cooper threw his hands up in irritation. "Look, I couldn't have been stalking around even I wanted to." He pointed to the leg that Amber had cut up. "I still got the stitches and I can't bend this one the way I need to to get down the stairs on my own." He pointed to the crutches that were leaning up against the wall. "See those? I have to use those to get downstairs so I don't fall on my face hopping down on one foot. Kelly would have heard me coming from a mile away if I was moving around."

James eyed the crutches like they were evil or something before shaking his head. "Whatever. Not like I believe you-"

"You never believe me."

"Do I have a reason to? After all the shit you've pulled-"

"Oh would you let it GO?" Cooper asked in exasperation. "MOM has forgiven me. SHE put YOU in your place when it comes to me" he got up and pointed his finger at James "so don't-"

He was grabbed violently by the throat and slammed up against the wall. "FIRST of all, she is NOT your mother," James growled. "Your mother is DEAD. She's been dead for twenty fucking years. SECOND of all, don't you EVER think that you can talk to me like that. You're still in this house because Baby Doll doesn't have the heart to keep you out on the street-and yes I've gone along with it against my better judgment."

"Because you're a fucking whipped bitch that talks a big game-" He was silenced with a hard punch in the mouth, reopening the lip Taylor had busted the night before.

"I seem to recall being capable of more than talking a big game." He ripped open Cooper's shirt and pointed to the word 'TRAITOR' that was carved into his chest. "Test me boy. Fucking TEST me!" He grabbed Cooper's chin and dugs his nails into his flesh. "Give me another reason. I double fucking dog dare you. And then I'll show you once again EXACTLY what I'm fucking capable of." He shoved Cooper away and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him so hard that the windows rattled.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer**: Knowing Mindy, it'll be very interesting to find out. **Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you! **Vermillion Lynn**: Yeah...for his own good he better fucking realize it. **jadeMK11: **Hopefully someone that will appreciate her. Poor girl deserves it.

...

In the wee hours of the morning Mindy was woken up to the sound of James's harsh breathing. She cracked her eyes open and looked at him, seeing the distressed look written on his features. "Jamie?"

He didn't acknowledge her. He just whimpered and his breathing got faster. His skin was coated in a cold sweat and his body was tense and ready to spring up violently at any second. Moving quickly she put Vanessa in her basinet and Aiden in his crib so she could start trying to wake him up. "Jamie…" She tried to pull him as much into her arms as she could so she could cradle him, which was far from easy considering his size. "Jamie darling wake up sweetie wake up please wake up-"

James woke up violently, literally wrenching himself out of her arms and barley managing to avoid head butting her full on in the nose. He gasped for breath wildly, his eyes darting around the room while his hand went over his heart. His body relaxed when he saw her and she pulled him back on to her lap. "Baby Doll…" He nestled his face against her, taking deep shuddering breaths. "Baby…"

"Ssssshhhhh." Mindy pet his hair and gently kissed every inch of his face. "It's okay Jamie. It's okay I'm here." She frowned worriedly as he trembled even as he was nodding along. "Was it Mommy and the hanger again?"

He froze uncomfortably at the question. She started to try to pry when he suddenly sat up and started looking around. "Where's Aiden?" His voice was raspy and laced with fear. "Where is he where-"

"He's right there baby." Mindy pointed to Aiden, who was sleeping inside his crib. "See? He is right there."

James let out a shaky sigh of relief and crawled out of bed. He gathered his infant son up in his arms and hugged him tightly before going into the bathroom. Frowning even more, Mindy followed him and hugged him from behind as he rinsed his face off with his free hand. "What was it Jamie?" she asked, making him turn around to face him. She reached behind him and shut the faucet off and grabbed the towel so she could dry his face off. "Was it Mommy?"

He finally managed a nod. "It was different," he said, hugging her with the arm that wasn't holding Aiden. "It was me at first. Same thing I've always had. But then like it changed. I was watching…it was Aiden she had. It was Aiden…I couldn't fucking stop her." His body started trembling as he began replaying the dream in his head. "I tried but I couldn't move Baby Doll I couldn't-"

"Ssssshhhhhh Jamie no sweetie." Mindy hugged him tightly and shook her head. "It was just a DREAM baby. It was a dream Aiden's FINE! See?" She smoothed down Aiden's hair and lifted his head up so James could see that there was no wire hanger induced scar anywhere on his neck. "See? He's FINE Jamie darling. "Mommy is DEAD she cannot hurt him." She nodded, making James do so as well before pulling his head down and getting up on her toes to kiss him. "Mommy's not going to hurt our babies okay?"

He nodded along and took the towel from her, drying the rest of his face before turning around to put it back. He gave a passing glance at the mirror and froze in horror. Caroline was standing right behind them, leering at them with a hanger in her hands. He whirled around, placing Mindy protectively behind him and shielding Aiden as best as he could. There was no one there though

"James?" Mindy's voice spiked worriedly.

James blinked several times and Caroline still didn't appear again. He shook his head and kissed Mindy's forehead to try to tell her he was okay. His mind must have been playing tricks on him. It was still rattled from his nightmare. That had to be it. It was just fucking with him some more. "I'm fine Baby Doll."

She gave him a skeptical look. "You don't LOOK fine."

"I am though." He kissed her again, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. "Or I will be." He kissed her again and smiled weakly. "I have YOU after all."

She smiled back and they kissed again, making out until they heard Vanessa crying in the next room. They reluctantly broke apart and went back to the bedroom, Mindy scooping her into her arms and crawling on top of James after he had climbed back into bed. James kissed the top of their heads as they snuggled together and he managed to go back to sleep so Mindy would too but he woke up not long after and was awake for the rest of the night.

…

"I want waffles," Chelsea announced as she walked into the kitchen. It was only seven in the morning but she came in with Stickers under her arm. The poor red panda that James had gotten her from the zoo didn't seem pleased with being dragged around already but what could be done? Chelsea wouldn't go anywhere without him.

"Waffles Princess?" James was by the table, setting Elizabeth in her high chair so he could feed her some cereal while he made breakfast. Every morning he made the rounds to check on the kids and she had already been up and waiting for him. It was a school day so he had woken up the twins and Amber so they could start getting ready. He had to cook breakfast still and get Mindy her morning milkshake and take Snoopy and Spike out before taking the girls to school. He would take Chelsea and Elizabeth with him since they were up and leave Aiden and Vanessa there, with Mindy if they stayed asleep or with Taylor if they woke up and Mindy wanted to stay in bed. Chelsea was going to have A.B.A therapy for six hours just like she always did with the therapist that came to the house. He hated that it was even needed but there was nothing that could be done. There was no cure for Autism. They were doing everything that could be done and hoping to make Chelsea as high functioning as possible.

"Waffles," she confirmed. She padded over in her kitty footy pajamas and extended her arm up so he would pick her up, which of course he did. "I like waffles."

"ME!" Elizabeth said, waving Lammy around to get James's attention.

"NO Lizzie! MY waffles!"

"MINE!"

"We're ALL having waffles," James interjected. He grabbed a box of Cheerios and put some on Elizabeth's tray so she could start eating them.

"Lammy too!" she held up her favorite stuffed animal and nodded. "Lammy like."

"Lammy likes waffles too?"

"YES!"

"Well Lammy can have some too." He kissed the top of her head, his hands playing with her soft blonde locks before putting the cereal away and bouncing Chelsea on his hip. "You wanna help me Princess? You wanna help Daddy make breakfast?"

"Yes." She gave him a good nod and he kissed her cheek.

"Good girl." He got out the waffle maker and a couple of other pans as well, deciding that bacon and eggs sounded good to go along with the waffles. "Do you want powdered sugar on yours? Like when you have funnel cake?"

"YES!" Chelsea practically started to jump up and down in his arms she liked that idea so much. "Like cake."

"Alrighty." He kissed her cheek again and snagged a chair so he could stand her on it because he needed both hands to cook. He let her stir up the batter, though he had to hold on to the bowl while she stirred because she still had Stickers in her arms. The poor thing was getting batter all over him as a result, which meant James was going to have to give him a bath now. "Don't you think you should put him down Princess?"

"No," she replied automatically.

"He's getting dirty sweetie."

"He's…" she looked up at James and pouted her lips "MY Stickers. THE Stickers." She squeezed the poor thing extra tight for emphasis, ignoring how he tried to get free. "He HELP."

"He's helping too?"

"Yes."

"Alright…" James couldn't fight with her. He was a complete sucker for her he couldn't argue against her logic. All he could do was smile and continue to help her while also trying to figure out if he could fit Sticker' bath in before he dropped the girls off at school.

…

"Did you hear Jamie? This movie is coming out in 3D like my concert! We can go see it TOGETHER!"

James's entire face twitched at those words yet he still managed a smile. They were in their bedroom watching Titanic for what felt like the billionth time. It was her favorite movie so of course he watched it with her. What else would he do? The babies were down for their early afternoon nap, Chelsea was with her therapist, Taylor was playing games with Connor and who even knew where Cooper was. Once the twins and Amber got home from school there was a family trip to the zoo planned. "I'm not sure if the other people would appreciate your commentary like I do."

"Oh well they can kiss my ass in D-minor," she said with a flip of her hair. It ended up hitting James in the face and he moved it aside so it wouldn't get in his mouth next time he tried to talk. "I do not give a fuck."

"When have you ever?" He kissed her throat lovingly before glancing back at the TV. Jack had just taken Rose to the party all the third class people were having and they were starting to dance. "You notice there's no black people in all those minorities down there."

"Of course not," Mindy said with a wise nod of her head. "Black people were not allowed to ride on boats back then Jamie darling. They were not allowed to ride on boats until that King guy freed the slaves."

James frowned. "Baby Doll, Martin Luther King didn't free the slaves."

"Yes he did."

"No he didn't. Abe Lincoln freed them."

She gave him a totally confused look. "Who was he?"

"The president back when slavery was abolished."

"Was he black like O-Dog?"

"No. He was white."

Now she just looked annoyed. "Why would a WHITE guy free SLAVES?"

"Because he was AGAINST slavery." Yes Mindy really didn't know all this. In school Trish had done everything for her and she had dropped out at the age of sixteen to start her music career. "The North was against slavery and the South was for it. They fought the Civil War and the North won obviously because there are no more slaves."

Mindy wasn't listening to that history lesson. "My aunt was a slave."

"Your aunt?"

"Mhm. She had other slaves too."

"A slave that owned slaves…" James shook his head. What could he even say? His wife was a racist that claimed to be black so of COURSE she was going to have a slave aunt.

"But black people were still not allowed on the boat Jamie," she said, so sure of herself. "They were still slaves then."

"Baby Doll Lincoln freed the slaves like fifty years before the Titanic set sail. And black people were brought here to this country on ships. That was the only way they could get here they didn't have planes back then or anything."

"Well EXCUUUUUSE me Mr. Smarty Pants!" Oh boy. "YOU'RE just mad your stupid people sank the boat!"

Now he was totally lost. "My people sunk the boat?"

"Yes!"

"What people?"

"The stupid GERMANS!"

"…The Germans sank the ship now?"

"Yes!"

"Then why is the British dude driving the ship? THEY let it-"

"The movie is LYING Jamie. There was a GERMAN driver but they changed it because your people get cranky and start KILLING everybody like JERKS." Technically she wasn't wrong about his people sinking the ship; the Lawson side of the family had English blood in them but she was completely wrong with this whole German thing. "You killed Leonardo DiCaprio you JERK!"

"Ow!" He just got smacked for something he didn't even personally do. "Baby Doll!"

She smacked him again. "Jerk jerk jerk! You KILLED him you did!"

"I didn't! The incompetent people on the boat did!"

That went on deaf ears. She just kept smacking him so he had to grab her wrists and roll himself on top of her to make her stop. "Hey!" She tried to buck him off of her. "Get off!"

"Nope."

"The MOVIE Jamie!"

Holding both of her hands above her head in case she wanted to get slap happy again, James grabbed the remote and paused the movie. "There." He threw the remote aside and began kissing his way up her neck. "Consider this my apologies." He kissed across her jaw and finally captured her lips with his. She kissed him back immediately, sliding her tongue into her mouth and arching her hips up to grind her groin against his. He let her hands go to see what she would do and was happy to find her arms going around him instead of slapping the shit out of him again. They were already naked from their activities before the movie so there were no pesky clothes to get rid of. He was free to start kissing his way down her body, running his hands over her breasts and squeezing them firmly. She arched her chest up towards him, moaning as he placed his mouth over each one, teasing her nipples into hardened nubs. One of his hands drifted between her legs and he lightly rubbed it against her inner thighs.

"Jamie…" Pouting her lips she grabbed his arm and placed his hand on her moistened pussy. "Don't tease."

"Teasing is fun though," he countered.

Her eyes narrowed. "I'll keep that in mind for YOU then…"

His eyes widened a bit and he began to rub his hand, his thumb circling her clit and one finger sliding inside of her as put his mouth back on her breasts. She moaned and rode his finger eagerly, making him move his head back so he could watch her. He slid two more fingers inside of her and rubbed them against her walls. His thumb continued to rub circles around her clit until he replaced it with his mouth, and he licked, sucked and nipped at it until he got her off. Slowly he pulled out his fingers and licked them clean before placing her legs up over his shoulders and burying his face into her pussy.

"James!" Mindy's hands latched on to his hair and she held him firmly in place. "James James James!" His tongue was moving fast and deep inside of her, fucking her just the way she liked it. The fingers on his left hand began rubbing her clit once again and his right hand went up so he could squeeze and knead her breasts. His cock was rock hard and leaking precum but he ignored it until his face was covered with Mindy's juices. He licked her cleaned before moving back up and slamming his lips against hers as he slipped inside of her.

"Fuck me," she moaned. She was already moving her hips in time with his thrusts. "Fuck me Jamie fuck me."

He thrusted hard and fast, his tongue sliding into her mouth and one of his hands gripping her hair. "Like that Baby Doll? Hmm? You like that?"

"Yeah!" She wrapped her legs around his waist and raked her nails down his back, making him hiss happily and thrust even faster. "Fucking love how you fuck me."

"I love fucking you." He kissed her hard and nipped at her collarbone. "I fucking love YOU Baby Doll."

"I love you MORE Jamie." She reached down between their bodies and lightly squeezed his balls."

"I love YOU more."

"NO I love YOU more."

In lieu of answering and keeping up the argument that could literally go on forever, he kissed her deeply instead. She spread her legs as wide as she could so he could fuck her as deeply as possible and he thrusted even faster. He brought her to her third orgasm and his first came immediately after. There was barely any time to rest though. A moment of kissing and gentle nudging before she flipped them over so she was on top. "Stacy and George wanna have lunch sometime," she told him as she began to slowly rock her hips.

"I like lunch," he said with a nod, barely even listening.

"I know you do baby." Mindy started going faster, raking her nails lightly down James's chest. "And Stacy says George knows Leo so he can introduce you two and you can say sorry."

"For what?"

"For killing him!"

James froze mid-thrust. "BABY Doll! I didn't sink that ship!"

"Don't care."

"But-"

"No sorry, no blowjobs. Pick your poison."

He sighed. "Fiiiiiine. I'll say sorry."

She poked her tongue between her teeth and poked his nose lightly. "Good boy."

…

Cooper and Connor ended up going to the zoo as well with the rest of them, though they went off on their own so Cooper could privately deal with Connor's habit of trying to climb into the animal cages. Mindy and Amber were linked arm in arm in matching purple Juicy Couture sweat suits and Uggs. Thorn was dragging Oxa along on a leash and trotting alongside Scarlett and Taylor, who was pushing Vanessa in her stroller. James was pushing Elizabeth in hers while Chelsea sat up on his shoulders (with her elbow rested on the top of his head like he was a chair) and Aiden in his arms.

"Look at the lions Aiden!" He bounced his son lightly and pointed so he would look. "Lookie lookie lookie! LIONS!"

"You would think he never saw them before either," Amber whispered to Mindy, who was watching her two boys with a smile.

"You know what lions do Aiden? Huh? You know what they do?" The people passing by were giving him looks for his cutesy baby voice but he didn't give a shit. "They go RAWWWWWRRRRR!" He tickled Aiden's stomach and nommed on his face, making the baby shriek in laughter.

"RAWWWWR!" Elizabeth imitated from inside her stroller, making faces at the lions.

Aiden made cooing sounds and waved at the lions, which made James smile and bite at his hand to make him laugh. Everyone was watching the two of them together now. Elizabeth had been thought to be the mini-James and she was in her way, especially with the way her personality was developing. Aiden though was a pure clone. He had been the pure clone since he was born and if he was anything personality wise like James, it would seal the deal. James, who had always harbored feelings of insecurity and self loathing towards his "worthless" self saw a chance of redemption in his son. If it was him all over again then the mistakes could be fixed. Aiden would have parents that loved and wanted him-particularly his mother. Caroline had broken James time and again but Mindy wouldn't do that to Aiden. She loved him and would help give Aiden the kind of life James had desired as a child but hadn't been able to get.


	8. Chapter 8

"_Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time. And turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach_," Cooper sang as he came in through the front door. He had just gotten his stitches out finally and was feeling actually kind of cheerful for once. "_Another clever word sets off an unsuspecting word. And as you step back in line a mob jumps to their feet._ After leaving the hospital he had decided that a change of look was in order. He had cut his hair short and had bleached it blonde, a sharp contrast to shaggy dark hair that everyone was accustomed for him. He had on a blue metallic jacket that really did not go with the black tank top, jeans and Doc Martins that he was rocking. "_Now dance fucker, dance. Man, he never had a chance. And no one even knew it was really only you._" He walked towards the kitchen, completely oblivious to Taylor coming down the stairs and gawking at his new look. The headphones for his I-pod were tucked quite deep in his ear and the volume was jacked obnoxiously loud. "_And now you steal away. Take him out today. Nice work you did. You're going to go far, kid._" He went into the kitchen to find Mindy feeding Vanessa. Smirking a bit, he sang even louder to get her attention. "_With a thousand lies and a good disguise, hit 'em right between the eyes, hit 'em right between the eyes. When you walk away nothing more to say. See the lightning in your eyes. See 'em running for their lives._"

"Bub what the HELL?" Mindy said as she gawked at him with wide eyes.

"Hola Mommadukes." He reached into his pocket and hit the pause button on his I-pod before taking the ear buds out of his hear and letting them hang on his shoulders.

"What the HELL did you do to yourself?"

He pouted his lips and looked down at his clothes. "What? You don't like it?"

"You look like one of those gay alien dudes from Dude Where's My Car!" she declared.

His face twitched at that one. "I do NOT!"

"Do too do too do tooooooooo!" Mindy adjusted Vanessa in her arms and shook her head at him. "You're a total fagtown now."

"Fagtown?"

"Yes."

"That's not even-"

"It is TOO!"

He sighed and just gave up the argument. There was no winning when it came to her. "Where's Dad?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"Giving Lizzie a bath." She glanced around Cooper and bounced up and down eagerly. "When he comes back we're going to go over my set list for the concert movie and I want to tell him I want to play gigs to warm up for it beforehand." She nodded and cut Cooper off just when he opened his mouth to respond to that. "Ooooh and I have to tell him Made of Stone is gonna be the next single."

"That one?" Cooper said, his eyebrows going up in surprise.

"Yup!"

"Why that one?"

"Because I said so."

Shaking his head slightly he got his I-pod out of his pocket and started skimming through the songs until he came to that particular one. With this news it was now going to be the third single off her album. She had already released What You Want and My Heart is Broken and most thought Lost in Paradise would have been coming next. That one had a shit ton of buzz around it so this choice seemed to be pretty random.

_Speak your mind_

_Like I care_

_I can see your lips moving_

_I've just learned not to hear_

_Don't waste your time_

_It's never enough for you baby_

_Don't want to play your game anymore_

_No matter what you say_

_I'm all out of love for you baby_

_And now that I've tried everything_

_I'll numb the pain til I'm made of stone_

"The movie people want to put it on the new Underworld soundtrack," Mindy informed him. "My Jamie gets a movie song."

"Lovely." Turning the I-pod back off Cooper set it aside and ran a hand through his hair. His good mood was evaporating now. Just like he ruined James's mood James ruined his in a matter of seconds and he didn't even know he had done it. "Too bad he don't even LIKE Underworld. He says Kate Beckinsale can't act her way out of a paper bag."

"YOU don't like Kate Beckinsale and that's what YOU say," Mindy pointed, which was true. "Crab apple." She wagged her finger at him and danced around in her seat. "Crabby crabby crabby Cooper is a crabby pants." She wagged two fingers at him now, making little pinchers at his face just to be obnoxious.

"Oh would you stop?" he asked in exasperation. "I think Dad's a terrible influence on you."

"And I think YOU are a crab ass that needs to get LAID," Mindy countered. "I'm taking Taylor to go boy scouting you should go do that too."

"Boy scouting?"

"Mhm. You should attract a lot now that you are a total fagtown."

"Mom!"

"Baby Doll?" Shit. Cooper scooted his chair back away from her as James entered the room. He shot Cooper the dirtiest look he could muster before wrapping an arm around Mindy and kissing the top of her head before giving Vanessa a kiss. "What's going on here?"

"Bub's a crap apple," she announced.

"When is he not?" Another dirty look was shot Cooper's way as he kissed Mindy again, this time on the lips. He had Elizabeth in his free arm, who's wet hair hung loosely down her back. She had on a blue robe with monkey faces on it and when she saw Cooper she immediately blew a raspberry at him and held up her middle finger, which he was sure that James had taught her.

"Hey!"

"Lizzie!" Giggling Mindy took her little hand and nommed on her finger to make her laugh and stop. James just smirked and kissed the toddler's temple before nuzzling his face against Mindy's. "She wants YOU to help pick out her outfit."

"Oh yeah?" Mindy reached up and tickled Elizabeth's belly lightly. "You want MOMMY Lizzie Bear?"

"MOMMY!" Elizabeth stretched her arms out for her so Mindy stood up and traded Vanessa for Elizabeth and then the four of them just left the room, not even acknowledging that Cooper was still there. He watched them go, his good mood REALLY gone now. He hated that he couldn't ever get some time alone with Mindy anymore. She was always up in James and vice versa. One would have thought they were Siamese twins with the way they were connected. It bothered the fuck out of Cooper because he NEEDED Mindy. She was the only one that truly understood him. She was a complete space cadet but she got him. Only one other person had gotten him…Joie…but Joie was not only dead but almost a distant flame compared to what he felt towards Mindy. The only thing stopping him from having Mindy was James, who had the ability to make things a million times worse. It was enough to make him fantasize about James being eliminated from the picture…most of the time at his own hand. That was as far as that went though. He hadn't actually dared to truly consider acting on it. Deep down, as appealing as it sounded, he didn't want to risk failing. James may have been domesticated by Mindy and the kids but there was a bloodthirsty psychopath inside of there. Cooper had found that one out the hard way more than once. As hard headed and stubborn as he was, he wasn't dumb enough to physically try anything against James. He was scared straight on THAT front at least.

He got up and started to go towards his room when a loud shriek from the living room made him about jump out of his skin. It sounded like a woman was getting skinned alive in there so he went in there to see what the hell was going on. What he found was Chelsea and Connor sitting with Stickers, Fievel and Snoopy, watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The pair had on 3D glasses and Chelsea was shoveling marshmallows in her mouth by the handful while Connor was devouring potato chips.

"What in the world…" Cooper said under his breath.

"SSSSHHHHHHHHHH!" they both ordered at the same time.

Cooper blinked and stared at them for a moment longer before shaking his head and leaving the room. There were no words.

…

"Have you taken a pregnancy test yet?" James asked Mindy as they drove. They were in his charcoal Lamborghini (as usual) and he had one hand on the wheel and the other was holding hers. He had on a dark blue t-shirt, black sunglasses, cargo pants and a pair of ugly brown shoes that he wore pretty much everywhere. He did have other shoes, much better looking shoes, yet these were the ones he insisted on wearing everywhere. Mindy gave him shit about it nonstop but he insisted that they were comfortable and saw no reason to change.

"Not yet," she replied. She was dressed in a purple button up shirt James owned, black leggings with her Uggs and a pair of his sunglasses hanging off the collar of his (and now hers) shirt. "Next week I will."

He smiled and kissed each one of her fingers one by one. Yes they still needed it to be actually confirmed but at this point, given their history, the test was just a formality. They were sure she was carrying their fourth child. It made him giddy inside to even think about that. His only regret was that ALL the babies weren't biologically his-though he pretended they were. He liked living with the thought of there never being a Mark or a Kane or Annabelle or anyone else. There had only been him and Mindy from the very start.

He pulled up to the little café they were having lunch at, glaring at the paparazzi that dared to be around them. "Remember to behave now," Mindy reminded him lightly while waving to the cameras. "You have to be nice to George now. Stacy likes him very much you cannot tell him how much you don't like his acting."

"He don't even ACT," James lamented. "It's George Clooney as George mother fucking Clooney in every single movie he's in!"

"Yeah well he is Stacy's boyfriend and you have to be nice anyway." She poked his chest and gave him a stern look. "You will be nice right? You wouldn't be a MEAN Jamie now would you?"

"Me? Never." He kissed her and rubbed noses with her.

"Maybe you and George could be friends and then we could have more double dates."

"Let's not go THAT far…" The friends he had once upon a time were either dead or he really never saw them and quite frankly, he had no interest in making more-especially with THAT type of crowd. He had Mindy and the kids and that was enough for him.

They kissed for a few more minutes before getting out of the car and going into the café. Stacy and George were already waiting for them and Stacy and Mindy both squealed loudly at the sight of each other. They hugged and started talking a mile a minute and paparazzi zoomed in with their cameras, taking pictures through the windows. James stood there, spending most of the time shoveling food into his mouth and only really speaking when asked something. He felt like the odd one out in this situation and the paparazzi were annoying the fuck out of him. For the most part he was used to them by now but today they were worse than normal today. One of the biggest actors in the country combined with one of the biggest acts in music at the same place at the same time made for huge buzz. He personally thought that if people had time to be that interested in who was eating lunch with who then they needed a life in the worst way but whatever. He just stuck by Mindy and got them a giant strawberry float to share and actually sent the waiter back to get her a purple crazy straw when it wasn't brought out the first time. That would probably make a headline all in itself but he didn't give a shit. His wife was getting a fucking crazy straw and that was that.

…

"Connor STOP trying to run with that stick!" Taylor yelled at the wild man child that promised to behave yet didn't. While Mindy and James were out at lunch she had taken the others to the park. Unfortunately, it wasn't going as smoothly as she wanted it to. She had Aiden and Vanessa to take care of and Amber thankfully took Elizabeth and Chelsea and they were playing on the slides together. Connor and the twins though were running wild. They had originally been playing kick ball but then Connor had kicked the damn ball all the way across the park, which made the twins mad and they had been pummeling him with their little fists until he grabbed a stick, which he was now chasing them with.

"THEY started it!" Connor shot back.

"We did NOT!" Thorn yelled.

"Yeah!" Scarlett agreed. "He's LYING Taylor! Don't believe him!"

"I'm NOT LYING!"

"I don't care who started it!" Taylor shot back. "You put that stick down NOW and settle down before I end it!"

Connor let out a defiant war cry and kept right on going. Taylor took a step towards him to make him knock it off but Oxa ran interference instead. She sank her teeth into Connor's pant leg and tripped him up, sending him face first on the ground.

"Yeah!" Thorn cheered. "GOOD Oxa!"

"STUPID CAT!" Connor yelled as he sat up. "I hate you!"

"Well she hates you MORE!" Scarlett countered.

"Guys…" Taylor let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair. Why couldn't they ever have a trip somewhere without this stuff happening? Was that too much to ask?

"Excuse me, is this yours?"

Taylor turned around and saw a guy standing behind her, holding the ball Connor had kicked. He looked to be a little over six feet tall, green eyes and brown hair that was almost completely shaved down. The white tank top he was wearing showed off how muscular his arms were. The first thought that came to mind was 'meathead'. Total and complete meathead. He was a somewhat cute one at least though. And while muscular, he wasn't as obnoxiously big as some of the ones she had run across before.

"Yes it is!" Scarlett said, tossing her nose up in the most prissy matter as she took the ball from him. "THANK you very much."

He grinned and nodded at her. "You're welcome." His attention shifted back to Taylor, who had picked up Aiden and was checking on Vanessa (who was sitting comfortably in her stroller). "Siblings?"

She nodded. He was checking her out and she was internally cringing because she didn't think she looked THAT great. She had make-up on but not that much and she had on a plain gray t-shirt and dark blue capris…she was expecting to just lounge around with the kids she hadn't been planning on running into a guy. "I'm babysitting while Mom and Dad are out."

"Wooow…I only got a sister I don't know how you do this." He held out his hand. "Trevor by the way."

"Taylor." She took his hand and shook it and the twins apparently took that as a cue to butt in.

"I'm SCARlett," the little priss said, grabbing Trevor's hand and shaking it daintily. "THAT is my stupid sister Thorn."

"YOU'RE stupid," Thorn snapped, elbowing Scarlett in the gut before making the rest of the introductions herself. "This is OXA," she pointed to Oxa who was eyeing Trevor distrustfully. "And that's stupid Connor" Connor stuck his tongue out at her while pulling grass out of the ground and throwing it up in the air. "And that's Aiden and Vanessa and Amber and Chelsea and Lizzie."

"NO BOY!" Elizabeth yelled, grabbing a pebble and attempting to throw it at him. It completely missed yet she still blew a raspberry at him and stuck her thumbs in her ears, wiggling the rest of her fingers at him.

"Nice to meet you all." He was trying his best to seem sincere but his attention clearly was more on Taylor than anything else. "You guys come here a lot?"

Taylor eyebrows rose at that lame line. "I spend my time babysitting a boat load of children. What do you think?"

"I've never seen you here before."

"Clearly you haven't looked hard enough."

"Clearly I should have." His deep voice had a hint of a southern accent to it. "I've been missing out." He shoved his hands in his pockets and his lips turned up into a little half smile. "You got a boyfriend?"

"No she don't," Scarlett said, answering before Taylor could say a word. "She's niiiice and single." Taylor could have strangled her but held on to Aiden more tightly to refrain from doing so.

Trevor's smile got bigger at those words. "You doing anything tonight Taylor?"

"Ummm…that'll depend if the parental patrol have plans."

"Well how about tomorrow? Give 'em some advance notice and I could take you out."

Amber and the twins immediately all stared intently at Taylor, who kind of felt stuck now. She wasn't exactly in to this guy. She had known him for all of about five minutes and while he was cute he didn't really do much for her. Yet at the same time, what did she have to turn him down for? Another night being stuck at home with the girls? Another night of pining over Cooper, who clearly wasn't interested in her. Maybe going out and seeing other guys was the key to getting over him. "Okay," she agreed. "Sounds good."

"NO!" Elizabeth yelled. "Daddy says NO BOYS!" She ran up to Trevor before Amber could grab her and kicked him as hard as she could "NO PENIS!"

Trevor let out a little yelp of pain and gave her a flabbergasted look while Taylor pretty much died of embarrassment on the spot.


	9. Chapter 9

**cathy **and **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **Ilse'sPurpleSummer:** I know right? That's pretty much all you can say. **jadeMK11:** Hahahaha seriously. Like I know they're obnoxious but what else are they supposed to do? They're completely in love and they can do what they please. The world don't revolve around his fucked up way of thinking. **Vermillion Lynn**: Yep. And many more will come after I'm sure.

...

"So who IS the lucky guy?" Mindy asked Taylor, ready to full on grill the teenager about the guy she had met at the park. The two of them, along with Natalya (who had just returned to the house) were sitting out on the beach together. Elizabeth was playing in the sand and Aiden was sitting comfortably in Mindy's lap, drinking from a bottle that he was trying to hold all on his own despite Mindy holding it for him. Vanessa was inside napping and James was playing with the girls inside the house. The twins had immediately told James and Mindy about Taylor's date before she herself could even say a word about it. That was why girl time was now needed-and since Aiden was a complete Momma's boy he was having girl time as well.

"His name is Trevor," Taylor answered. She was sitting cross legged in the sand, digging her hands into it and playing with it. She looked at Elizabeth, who was running around Natalya in circles, who was trying to catch her and tickle her ribs. "He's picking me up tomorrow if that's okay."

"It is," Mindy assured her. "Though WE were supposed to go boy scouting…"

"Honestly Mommy? I got the meathead vibe off the guy. I don't think we'll be going past this first date."

"At least you're putting yourself out there," Natalya said. She tried to grab Elizabeth but Lizzie slipped through her grasp and kept running. "I mean, that's better than nothing."

"I guess." Taylor snagged Elizabeth and tickled her, making the toddler scream and kick her feet. "He gave me his number and said he would pick me up at six."

"No!" Elizabeth shouted. "No boy! No boy no boy no boy!"

"Lizzie!" Mindy reached over and pulled Elizabeth over to her. "You don't like boys?"

"No no no!" Elizabeth said with an emphatic shake of her head.

"Why not?"

"Daddy says boys ICKY!" Elizabeth attempted to grab Aiden and squeeze him like she would Lammy. "Boys icky Aiden. Daddy says no no."

"Oh Christ…" Mindy groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew exactly how James felt about boys when it came to the girls. If he had his way they were all going to die virgins.

"She kicked him," Taylor told them. "Trevor. She kicked him yelling "No boys!" and "No penis!" It was so bad."

"So is that name," Mindy said with a wrinkled nose. "That is terrible."

Natalya laughed at that and snagged Elizabeth from Mindy and placed her on her lap. "It's not that bad."

"It is too," Mindy insisted.

"Well I probably won't see him again after this date so it don't really matter," Taylor said with a shrug. She started to say something else when she saw Thorn and Scarlett running outside towards them.

"Mommy Mommy Mommy! Come see what Daddy is doing!" The twins grabbed Mindy's hand and gave her no choice but to get up and follow. Natalya and Taylor tagged along, wondering what the hell James was up to now. They got their answer when they went inside to see that James had Amber and Chelsea slung over his shoulders, their legs sticking straight out and their arms outstretched as he ran around the room.

"We're airplanes Mommy!" Amber gleefully informed her. "What do airplanes do Chels?"

"ZOOM!" Chelsea gleefully responded. "Zoom zoom zoom!"

"That's right!" James said happily. "We zoom zoom zoom!" He made loud engine like sound effects before running out of the room. Thorn and Scarlett chased after him screaming that it was their turn now and once Natalya put Elizabeth down she did the same thing. Mindy put her hand over her mouth and giggled while Natalya shook her head.

"I think he's got more energy than people my age," Taylor observed.

"Helps make him a fantastic lay," Mindy noted. She skipped off after James while Taylor smacked a hand to her forehead and Natalya snorted loudly.

…

"You need to keep that FUCKING goat OUT of my room!" Cooper growled as he grabbed Connor by the arm. He had just dragged Spike back into Connor's room after catching him in his room eating his things yet again. He had dragged the animal back to Connor's room and was now giving Connor the riot act about it. "You understand me?"

"Okay OKAY!" Connor said. He tried to rip himself out of Cooper's grip but Cooper was too strong. "Let GO Coopy!"

"I MEAN it this time!" Cooper growled, digging his nails into Connor's arm to keep his attention. He didn't want Connor to just agree with whatever he was saying and not really listen. He did that all the time and it was irritating beyond belief. "You keep that fucking goat in its place or its fucking dead. You understand?"

Connor's eyes narrowed now that Spike had actually been threatened. "Don't you touch my goat!" He kicked Cooper in the shin and attempted to hit him in the face. "You leave him ALONE you leave him ALONE!"

Cooper grabbed Connor's wrist and slammed him up against the wall. "Keep him out of my stuff and we won't have a problem!"

"Ow ow ow ow you're hurting me!" Connor was getting dramatic now that he couldn't get free.

"Oh I am n-"

"Cooper!" Natalya entered the room without knocking and pulled Cooper off of Connor by the back of the shirt. "What the HELL are you doing? Leave him alone!"

"He hurt me!" Connor tattled. He was real brave now that he had Nattie to hide behind. "And he's gonna kill Spike!"

Natalya sighed and gave Cooper an exasperated look. She had known the two of them for forever now and was used to having constantly play peacemaker between the two of them. They could never seem to get along no matter what. Connor could be a huge pain to deal with and Cooper had no patience sometimes even though some should have been built up at this point. He knew how Connor was and at this point should have had a tremendous tolerance built up-yet it seemed like he was having less and less as time went by. "Cooper-"

"Just keep that thing out of my room and we won't have a problem." Cooper turned on his heels and left the room. He wasn't even going to keep trying to do anything with Nattie in the room. He had tried it before and it usually ended up with violence against him. She was about the toughest girl that he had ever come across and she didn't take any shit. So he just left, nearly colliding into Taylor as he started going down the stairs. "Watch it," he snapped out of irritation.

"You almost ran into ME!" she pointed out. "Maybe YOU should watch it."

He glared at her and she glared back at him, a very tense silence growing between the two of them. It lasted for quite a long time and there seemed to be no end in sight until a loud clearing of a throat caught their attention. Amber and the twins were standing there, their hands on their hips and all three glaring at Cooper.

"Is there a problem?" Scarlett asked haughtily.

Cooper looked at them for a moment before glancing back at Taylor and then shaking his head. "No. I was just leaving." He moved around Taylor and went down the stairs, the girls moving so he could go out the front door and all of them wincing as he slammed it shut behind him.

"Good riddance!" Thorn said. She grabbed Taylor's hand and pulled her back to the living room. "Come on. Mommy and Daddy are playing so we want you to do our hair for us."

Taylor sighed and followed. If James and Mindy were playing that meant she was in charge yet again, potentially for the whole night. That was business as usual though. Once James and Mindy started they never seemed to be able to stop.

…

"Mmmm Jamie!" James and Mindy had locked themselves in his office and had about half their clothes ripped off. He was sitting shirtless in his chair, his cock out and in her hand being stroked. She was topless as well and he had his hand down her sweatpants, his fingers sliding past her lacy thong and sliding right inside of her. "Like that Jamie yeah…" She rode his fingers happily and stroked his cock harder.

"I love watching you ride my fingers Baby Doll," he said as he fingered her harder. His free hand pushed her sweatpants and thong down so he could watch his fingers slide in and out of her. "It's so fucking hot." He brushed his thumb over her clit and began kissing his way across her chest, covering each breast with about a dozen hickeys. She moaned and arched her chest up while riding his fingers more desperately. He rubbed them against her walls and played with her clit with his thumb, kissing her hard on the mouth to contain her moans as she came. He withdrew his fingers and started to move her back on to his desk when she ducked down and wrapped her mouth around his cock.

"Oh fuck yes Baby Doll!" Immediately he leaned back in his chair and arched his hips up so she could pull his jeans and boxers the rest of the way off. She teased the head with her tongue, licking all around it and probing into the slit before taking more into her mouth. Her hands lightly squeezed and played with his balls while she sucked, her tongue rubbing against the vein that ran on the underside of his cock. He moaned loudly, gripping her hair in one hand and the arm of the chair with the other. He was trying not to thrust up into her mouth and choke her but it was hard. Her mouth felt absolutely amazing on his cock. "Just like that baby just like that."

Mindy sucked harder, eventually moving her mouth down to his balls while her hand jerked off his cock. Her other hand reached between her legs, rubbing herself with three fingers so she could slip those fingers inside of him.

"Fuck!" He arched up suddenly and nearly came out of his chair. "Fuck fuck fuck Baby Doll!"

Smirking she fingered her harder and went back to sucking him, swallowing his seed as it shot down his throat. Panting and staring at her in lust and adoration, James swiped almost everything off his desk with one hand before lifting her up and laying her down on it. Off came the rest of her clothes and he scooted forward in his chair before putting her legs up over his shoulder and burying her face into pussy. He nipped at her clit gently and slid his tongue into her, spreading her folds apart with his fingers and lapping away eagerly.

"James!" Her fingers threaded through his hair and held his head firmly in place, as if he was going to go anywhere. He didn't even try though. He kept his head buried right where it was, fucking her eagerly with his tongue while his fingers and teeth played with her clit. His face became absolutely drenched in her juices but he didn't stop until his cock had become nearly purple with stiffness. Then he ripped her back down on to his lap, impaling her on his cock and fucking her hard. The only sound in the room were their moans and skin slapping on skin. Their orgasms were nearly simultaneous and they made out for several minutes after.

"Taylor has a date tomorrow," she reminded him as her fingers played with his hair.

"And?" He kissed her lightly on the throat before nuzzling her face. "We can get Nattie to babysit if we want to do anything. She'll still be here."

"I know but you should talk to Taylor. You know, about her new meathead date."

"Why? She was a stripper and a hooker she don't need MY guidance. Plus she's eighteen now-"

"She needs a DADDY," Mindy insisted. "And you need practice for when the girls get old enough to date."

"No I don't," he replied. "They're not dating. We've been over this."

She sighed and shook her head at him. "They're going to grow up at SOME point and YES they will WANT to date. You can't stop that."

"Yes I can." He was NOT budging on this subject no matter what.

"You still have to talk to Taylor."

His eyebrows rose at that. "I have to? Who says?"

"Me."

"You huh?" He kissed her lightly as he nodded. "Fine. I'll tell her don't drink, don't smoke and no ritual sacrifices."

"You forgot the no sex part."

"Yeah well I'm clearly way WAY too late on that part."

She gave him a stern look and he just shrugged innocently. It wasn't like he was wrong about that. "He better be a NICE meathead or I will have to kill him."

"I hope it gets her over Cooper. If I see that miserable look on her face again when he's around I might puke."

"Jamie!"

"What? It's SICK how bad she's got it for him. Like, he's not even remotely NICE to her anymore! If he's not moping over you he's out banging god knows how many twinks."

Mindy wrinkled her nose. "Is he really-"

"Come on Baby Doll. He comes home smelling like sweat and sex. God only knows where he's been."

"Do you think he has something?"

"Maybe. What I do know for sure is him living here makes it worse for her. She can't escape him." James actually did feel kind of bad for Taylor having to put up that…though he didn't feel TOO horrible about it since he was not close to her at all. Mindy treated her like she was her daughter but to James she was pretty much just a babysitter. A useful one but still a babysitter. He didn't give that much of a shit about her. She was in his house because Mindy wanted it-like a certain other someone that drove him insane.

"What are you saying Jamie?"

"That he should leave and make things easier on a whole lot of people."

Mindy immediately shook her head. "He has nowhere to go Jamie."

"So? He's a grown man. It's about time he stopped being babied."

Mindy frowned and placed her hands on James's shoulders. "YOU babied him for forever until you decided you hated him."

"And clearly I shouldn't have. Judging from the way he turned out I learned how NOT to parent OUR kids."

Frowning even more she pet his face. "You're a good daddy…"

"Maybe now that I got fucking up with THAT out of my system." He glanced down at her stomach where his unborn child was more than likely resting before looking back into her eyes. "I let Cooper turn into a gigantic ball of useless angst and ignored Connor's problems out of denial. Connor at least seems to be mellowing out a tad…around US anyway. Cooper though…he contributes nothing but tension Baby Doll. The girls hate having him around, Connor can't stand him anymore, Taylor's miserable and I'm waiting for him to either stick a knife in my back or for him to try something with you AGAIN."

"Jamie darling…" sighing Mindy ran her fingers through his hair "I think…I think you see him worse than he actually is because he maded you think of your daddy." Whatever boner he still had inside of her just got completely killed yet she kept going on. "You don't see anything but your daddy even though he's SORRY and he hasn't done it again."

"He's SORRY because he got caught, not because he did the act," James snapped, his good mood completely zapped out of him. "He's SORRY because you didn't buy into his DELUSION that he made love to you in that car as opposed to RAPING you. I don't CARE how many times it was done it doesn't change the fact that he DID it and should be in the fucking ground!"

"But he's not," Mindy pointed out. "And if he leaves he can't take care of himself and he will have to end up back here or there might not be another Taylor to save him…"

"Oh yeah, his pity drug habit," James said sarcastically. "Riiiight. I should feel bad for that huh? Maybe I did after Joie died but guess what Baby Doll? I knew Joie pretty well and he would HATE how he's turned out."

"That would make him very sad if he heard you say that."

He didn't give a shit. Irked that she was even defending Cooper like this, he moved her off his lap and got up, seizing his computer and hurling it against the door as hard as he could.

"JAMES!" Mindy stared at him as he flopped back down in his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking several deep breaths to try to calm himself back down. Frowning Mindy got back on to his lap and cuddled him. He wanted to just go out there and finish the job he had started on Cooper on more than one occasion but her presence was enough to sate him into dropping his head in the crook of her neck and keep it there instead.


	10. Chapter 10

**cathy** and **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Oh yeah. This kind of thing with him usually is.** Ilse'sPurpleSummer** Yeah it would be nice, considering she's become a part of the family. Though frankly he don't really view her as such. She's pretty much a nanny to him really.

...

Cooper maneuvered his way through the club, holding his drink high above his head and doing his best not to spill any of it as he went. The place was absolutely packed and the sound of Lady Gaga blaring at the top volume setting was assaulting his ears. He wasn't drunk yet though it wouldn't be too long before he got there. He had yet to hook up with anyone tonight and he wasn't sure if he was going to change that or not. That wasn't what this night was about. What it was about was in his pocket at the moment.

After nearly running into a group of girls that couldn't watch where they were going, Cooper made it into the restroom. There were a couple of people in there but he ignored them and went into the nearest empty stall. He made sure it locked properly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the baggie of cocaine he had purchased. It had been a total impulse buy and one that he really shouldn't have made. He had just gotten off this stuff not THAT long ago. And every time he started he got on a horribly slippery slope that he needed someone to save him from. Taylor and Mindy had been the people last time though now the former could hardly stand the sight of him and the latter had James constantly on her. Nobody really cared about him anymore. So what was the point in giving a shit? Sobriety was overrated anyway. It just made shit even harder to deal with.

He did hesitate though. After setting up his lines he did hesitate for a moment, reconsidering what he was about to do. It was about as dumb as he could get quite frankly. After that hesitation though he snorted the lines in quick succession, rubbing some on his gums and then leaning back against the wall and letting the drug work its magic.

…

James shivered and turned his head to the side as he slept, a worried expression crossing his face. Mindy, Aiden and Vanessa were all asleep on the bed with him, unaware of the change in his demeanor as of now. He hadn't started thrashing around or talking in his sleep yet though it was probably only a matter of time. For whatever reason, his nightmares were increasing in regularity.

"_Baby Doll?" He opened the front door and stepped into the house, frowning because it was too quiet. There were seven kids, five pets and Connor…things were never this quiet unless they were gone or asleep. "Baby Doll are you here?" He shut the door behind him and ventured further into the house, chills running up his spine at the stillness. "Baby D-"_

"_If she didn't answer you the first time what makes you think you're going to get an answer the next fifty times?"_

_He froze at that voice. "Oh no oh no oh no…" He turned around slowly, hoping that he wasn't going to see the owner of that voice. No such luck though. Caroline was standing there, giving him a little smug look. "What are you doing here?" he asked._

"_Me?" She shrugged her shoulders "innocently". "I'm always here. Always have been."_

"_You're dead." Completely obvious statement there. "And you were fucking exorcised out of me you should be-"_

"_In hell?" She chuckled lightly. "Maybe. But that don't change that I'm here." She slapped him upside the head with one hand and slapped his chest with the other one. "I'm always in here. Always have been, always will be."_

…

A cold draft that went through her blankets made Elizabeth wake up from her sleep. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, sitting up in her big girl bed and looking around. She was in the room next to James and Mindy's tonight, though sometimes she did still sleep with Mommy and Daddy. She liked that better though having three kids in the room tended to put a damper on their sex life, so sometimes separation was necessary. Of course, she didn't understand that though. She just knew that she had her nightlight, her Lammy and she had managed to steal Fievel from Chelsea so she had him as well.

The cold draft hit her again and she looked around, her blue eyes as wide as they could be. "Dad-dy?"

…

"_Where's Baby Doll?" James asked yet again. "Where are my kids?" He had this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he stared into the cold, expressionless eyes of his mother. "I swear to god if you hurt them-"_

'_You'll do what?" Caroline sneered coldly. She poked her finger at his chest. "Huh? What are YOU going to do you pathetic piece of shit?" She poked him again despite his attempts to push her away. "Huh? Tell me boy."_

"_You fucking stay away from my family," he growled, sounding braver than he felt. "You fucking have no place-"_

_SLAP! "Don't you fucking tell me what to do," she growled. "Don't you EVER tell me what to do, you understand me?"_

…

"Dad-dy?" Elizabeth said again. She hugged Lammy tightly and tried to keep Fievel close to her as well. Fievel however, slipped from her grasp and stood at the edge of the bed, hissing at the air. Fievel, the oldest, most easy going cat in the universe never hissed at anything. Elizabeth whimpered and looked around, trembling in fright.

SCRAAAAAAATCH! Something sharp scratched against her window and now she was full on crying. "DA DA DA DA!"

…

James and Mindy both woke up to the sound of Elizabeth's yelling, both freaked to say the least. "Lizzie!" James slipped on a pair of boxers and placed Vanessa in her bassinet before tearing out of the room. Mindy wasn't too far behind carrying Aiden with her. "Lizzie!" James burst into Elizabeth's room and flipped on the light to find her crying in her bed. "Lizzie!" He went right to her, lifting her up out of bed and hugging her tightly. "What is it Lizzie?"

"Da da da!" She hugged his neck tightly and pointed to her window. Frowning, James went over to the window and peered out it. He couldn't see anything outside…but he did see a sing faint scratch mark on the glass. He ran his fingertip over it and could tell it was made from the inside…how that could possibly be though he wasn't sure. Elizabeth surely hadn't done that. Fievel couldn't have done it. He pondered it for a moment and then realized that maybe it hadn't even happened just now. Connor or one of the kids could have fucked with the glass and he just hadn't known about it.

"Jamie?" Mindy came up behind him and kissed Elizabeth's cheek as she rested her head against James's shoulder. "What is it?"

James stared at the window a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing. I think she had a nightmare or saw something out the window that scared her." He rubbed Elizabeth's back gently and kissed the side of her head. His biggest worry was that she had had a nightmare about the whole kidnapping ordeal. Everyone had told him over and over again that she was too young to ever remember it but it still worried him. "She'll be just fine with us though, won't you Lizzie?" No way was she staying in here alone. This little scare would bring her back to Mommy and Daddy's bed for at least a week because James got more freaked than anybody.

"Lammy!" She shoved Lammy in his face until he gave the thing a kiss and then she pointed to Fievel. "KITTY!"

"Kitty too?"

"YES!' Elizabeth yelled despite Mindy's attempts to shush her.

James chuckled lightly and bent down so he could scoop Fievel into his arms. "Anything else Lizzie Bear?"

Elizabeth shook her head and James bounced her lightly before kissing Mindy and letting her lead them back to their bedroom.

…

Cooper woke up the next morning in a bed that wasn't his. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to piece together the events that took place after he snorted the cocaine. It was all a blur. He had been a drunken coked up mess he couldn't recall a damn thing. He didn't even know who it was that was laying in the bed next to him. It was a guy; he could see THAT clearly for himself. He couldn't see the guy's face because he had it turned to the other side though that didn't really matter to him. Being as quiet and careful as he could, he rolled out of the bed and searched for his clothes, which were laying out all over the floor. He slipped them on as fast as he could, glancing over at the sleeping twink on the bed to make sure he didn't wake up. He didn't feel up for dealing with any morning after shit and thankfully wasn't forced to do that. The guy didn't even stir as he got dressed and he was able to leave without incident. He had no idea where he was but at least his car was parked outside of the house. At least he wasn't going to have to go hunt it down. They keys were in his pocket thankfully and he got in and drove off, cursing the sun for shining in his eyes as he did so. He felt like such shit. He really really fucked up but that was nothing new to him. He fucked up just like the wind blew and the sun rose and set…it was the natural order of things.

He wiped his nose gingerly, wondering if he should say something about what he did. Part of him wanted to. Just come clean right away and get it done with because he knew how he was. He wasn't going to be able to hide it for forever. But the closer he got to the house, the more he knew that he wouldn't say a damn word. He didn't truly want to yet. As much as he knew that he had fucked up, he wasn't ready to be pulled back on to the tracks yet. He never ever was until it was almost way too late.

…

James poked his head into Taylor's room, where she, Mindy, Natalya, Aiden and all the girls except Chelsea (because he was holding her) were gathered. Apparently all hands were needed to help Taylor get ready for her big date. Natalya was straightening the teenager's hair while Amber was painting her fingernails. Mindy, Thorn and Scarlett were going through Taylor's closet, trying to decide which outfit would be appropriate. "Doesn't the girl going on the date usually get to do that?" he couldn't help but ask.

"WE'RE fashionistas!" Scarlett declared. "Taylor TRUSTS our judgment!"

"Ah right." He came into the room with Chelsea, who was hugging poor Stickers by his neck. Vanessa was laying in her bassinet while Aiden and Elizabeth sat on the floor, playing with some toys. "I sincerely apologize for asking such an obvious question."

"You are forgiven cretin," Mindy replied, whipping her hair back and only missing Thorn's face because she wasn't crazy tall like Amber was.

James smirked a bit. "Do you even know what that word MEANS Baby Doll?"

"It means kiss my ass son of a bitch."

He laughed loudly at that and walked over to her, kissing her on the lips instead. "Let's save that for when we don't have as much company." He kissed her again before rubbing his nose against hers. "Chelsea needs popcorn so I'm gonna run to the store with her real quick."

"Popcorn is GONE!" Chelsea stated, her chubby little face in full pout mode. This was a crisis given how much of a fanatic she was about it. Out of all the things she ate that was the one she treasured the most. "Daddy get MORE!"

"Yes, Daddy will get you more popcorn," he assured her. He kissed her cheek and nodded as she nodded at him. "I'll make you some popcorn balls when we get home. With the marshmallows and all the different colors."

"Us too Daddy!" Thorn piped in.

"Yeah," Amber agreed.

"I'll make some for everyone," he promised. He kissed Mindy again and tried to go when she stopped him. "Baby Doll?"

"Don't you have something to say to Taylor?"

He glanced at Taylor who was giving Mindy a confused look before frowning at her. "About what?"

'About her DATE." She smacked his chest lightly and pushed him to the younger girl and he sighed, now remembering what she wanted him to do. "Ah right." He gave her an exaggerated stern look which caused the girls to giggle and Mindy and Natalya to roll her eyes. "No drinking, no smoking, no ritual sacrifices of ANY kind. You hear me?"

Taylor stared at him incredulously. "Why would I do a ritual sacrifice?"

"I don't know. But if you do, don't come home."

"Jamie!" Mindy said in exasperation.

"Kidding-but seriously, don't sacrifice anything." He gave Mindy another kiss before leaving with Chelsea, who had the arm that wasn't holding Stickers around his neck. "Ready to go to the store Princess?"

"Yes." Nodding curtly she was way too cute and he had to nom on her cheek before getting her in the car and taking off. When they got to the store he sat her and Stickers up in the cart, not caring that animals weren't supposed to be in the store. "Sit STILL Stickers," Chelsea ordered, squeezing the red panda and forcing him to sit with her. Stickers whined and made some other sounds before sitting and Chelsea nodded in approval. "Stickers SIT!" she informed James.

"I see that." He pushed the cart down the snack aisle, grabbing enough popcorn to keep her happy for quite awhile and then stocking up on chips and cookies. He didn't know if they were out of those yet but it was always better to be safe than sorry. He also grabbed a pregnancy test from over by the pharmacy and he tapped the box lightly and held it up to Chelsea. "You know what this is for Princess?" She didn't so he filled her in. "This is to see if Mommy and I are gonna have another baby."

"A BABY?" Chelsea said loudly, catching a group of women's attention and they all melted as they watched him with her.

"Mhmmmm." He tickled her belly to make her laugh. "Mommy and Daddy are going to name her Georgia."

Chelsea clapped her hands before pointing to herself with her thumb. "I'm PRINCESS."

"Yes you are." He nommed on her itty bitty finger to make her laugh. "My Princess." He took her through the checkout lane and then carried her, Stickers and their bags of groceries out to the car. He set the groceries in the back and was just getting Chelsea and Stickers buckled up in their seats when she pointed to something behind him.

"Doggy!"

James glanced behind him and indeed saw a dog approaching them. It was a golden Labrador puppy, who was filthy dirty but friendly looking all the less. "Heeey." He let the puppy come to him before scooping the thing up into his arms and letting it lick him. The thing smelled because it had been like rolling in the trash or something but it was friendly as hell and completely underfed to boot. "Where did you come from? Huh?" He checked the dog's neck and there was no collar. It was a stray. That instantly made him feel really really bad for it. He was a sucker for animals, dogs in particular. His last dog Spencer had been a stray he had found and hadn't been able to bear leaving behind. "Who left you here all alone? Huh? Who left you?"

The puppy kept licking his face and Chelsea watched with a pout, doing her best to reach at the dog herself. "PUPPY!"

"He's a cute one isn't he?" He moved the puppy closer to her so she could pet it. She tried to grab it and squeeze it by the neck like she did with just about every other animal but he shook his head. "Let's wait until we give him a bath and trim his nails up a bit," he told her. "You don't want him getting your dress dirty and scratching you, do you?"

"I want…" she pointed to the puppy and nodded her head curtly "DOGGY!"

"We're taking the doggy home," he promised. "He'll be all ours." He looked at the puppy with a smile. "Isn't that right Spartacus?"

The puppy licked his face and Chelsea shoved Stickers at him. "Stickers meet PUPPY!"

Stickers and Spartacus stared at each, Stickers hissing and Spartacus staring at him with an almost baffled expression. "Stickers meet puppy," Chelsea said with a nod.

"Yes he did," James said with an amused grin. "And now everyone else will too."


	11. Chapter 11

**Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: This chapter should help paint a better picture for that question. **Ilse'sPurpleSummer**: No there won't be. He's burning way too many bridges. **Vermillion Lynn**: I think he did too to be honest. He hasn't had a puppy for himself since Spencer so it was time for a new one.

Sorry it took so long for the update but I wanted to make sure fanfic straightened its shit out before I posted this.

...

"Is the boy with the dumb name coming inside to meet us?" Mindy asked. She was feeding Aiden some bananas she mashed herself since she thought the baby food bought at the stores was full of poison and Natalya was feeding Vanessa. Taylor, who kept glancing at the clock every few minutes to check the time, was playing Life with Amber, Thorn and Scarlett. Elizabeth was sitting on the floor playing with Snoopy since Connor wasn't feeling well and was taking a nap.

"I don't know," Taylor replied with a shrug. "Do you want him to?"

Mindy nodded. "I must inspect him."

"Inspect him?" Taylor didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the thought. There were so many ways this could possibly go that she didn't know what to think.

"Well she has to see if he's good enough for you," Natalya said, totally not helping the situation. She nudged Mindy playfully. "Mommy has to look out for her babies."

"Damn straight," Mindy agreed. "Jamie should be here to help. I want him home now."

Amber smirked. "Oh yeah Mommy, I'm sure helping with Taylor is EXACTLY why you want him home. It has NOTHING to do with wanting hot sex."

Mindy's face turned red while the others snickered loudly. "Kiss my ASS Amber Rose!"

"Daddy would be in the WAY Mommy!" Thorn pointed out.

Mindy's face turned even redder but she was spared from having to formulate a response by the sound of the front door opening. "Jamie!" She lifted Aiden up out of his high chair and ran for the door, skidding to a stop in front of James, who had Chelsea in one arm and a dirty golden Labrador puppy in the other. "Ooooh JAMIE!" She pet the puppy happily and giggled as it barked and licked her hands. "Who is THIS?"

"This?" James smirked and held the puppy up high like he was Simba from The Lion King. "This…is…Spartacus!"

Mindy put a hand over her mouth, totally failing at hiding how she was laughing at his over the top dramatics. "Spartacus?"

"Mhm!" He lowered Spartacus and moved him closer to Mindy and Aiden. "See Spartacus? This is Baby Doll! This was who I was telling you all about!"

Spartacus licked Mindy's face happily before switching to Aiden, who still had some mashed banana on his face. Aiden squealed loudly in delight but his squeals were overshadowed by the ones let out by the girls as they came in.

"You got a PUPPY?" Amber.

"Ohhhh he's so CUTE!" Thorn.

"Ewww but he's DIRTY!" Scarlett.

"Where did you GET him?'

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"He needs a BATH!"

"PUPPY!" Elizabeth clapped her hands together while Snoopy whined in fright like a big baby and Oxa just stared at it.

"He was a stray," James said as he placed Spartacus on the ground and let the girls fuss over him. "He came up to me and Chels and I thought he needed a home." He wrapped an arm around Mindy's waist and kissed her. "It was too sad to just leave him."

"Can WE give him the bath?" Amber asked.

"Yeah!" Thorn piped in. "Can we Daddy? Pleeeeeassssseeee?"

James looked at Mindy who shrugged. "I don't see why not," he replied. "Put on your swim suits though or old clothes you don't mind getting wet."

The girls cheered and Amber scooped up Spartacus and ran off with him, the twins, Elizabeth and Chelsea (once James put her down) on her heels. James grinned and started kissing Mindy, showing her how much he had missed her while she was gone until the doorbell rang. "I got it!" Mindy slipped away from James and answered the door, opening it to see a tall, reasonably handsome guy with close cut brown hair and green eyes. "Are you the meathead here for my daughter?"

"Min!" Natalya said, barely containing her laugh as Taylor rushed towards the door, her face turning red. James didn't even hide his laughter. He cracked up and went over to Mindy, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head.

"Um…yeah?" The guy was older than Taylor. Quite a bit from what James could tell. Easily twenty four or twenty five years old. If she was actually daughter he would have gone off in a rage and said hell to the no. He had a hint of a Southern accent and looked completely baffled at the fact that Mindy Stratus was standing right in front of him.

"You sure about that?" James couldn't help but pipe in.

"Yeah. I'm here to pick up Taylor."

"Okay. Now wipe off that deer in the headlights look before your eyes pop out of the sockets."

Taylor, who's face was really red, went over to the guy and tried to diffuse the awkwardness. "Mom, James, this is Trevor. Trevor, this is Mommy and James."

"Nice to meet you." Trevor respectfully stuck out his hand to shake but it wasn't accepted. James was too busy snagging Aiden from Mindy so she could fold her arms over her chest.

"Where are you taking my daughter?" The interrogation was beginning. Mindy was doing her best to be intimidating but it was like being intimidated by a hamster; unless she was having an episode, who was going to be scared of that?

"I was thinking of taking her to a steakhouse not too far away," he replied. He looked at Taylor for confirmation. "Is that okay with you?"

Taylor nodded. "I like steak."

"I like steak too," Mindy piped in. "Steak is my favorite Jamie grills it a lot. He likes eggs with his steak. Eggs with the yellow on top. He puts the eggs on the steak to make eyes and puts bacon it to make it smile. One time he left it on the table and hided so he could make me think it was talking."

"…I what?" Even he had to give her an odd look because this was news to him.

"You did!" Mindy insisted. "You made it talk and scared me because I was like…" her eyes bugged out and she put up her hands up in a defensive manner "whooooaaaaaa. Steak does not talk food does not talk unless it's still a cow or pig or a chicken. And Jamie was laughing-"

"Baby Doll I never did that to you," James said with a shake of his head.

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Did too!" She elbowed him in the stomach. "Jerkface."

"Baby Doll I wouldn't ever do anything like that to you. I love you."

"We're going to go," Taylor said, knowing that she had to cut in or they would never shut up. If they got going on anything it was impossible to shut them up. She and Trevor would be there all night if she didn't say something.

"Have fun!" Natalya said as she adjusted her hold on Vanessa.

"Ooooh wait!" Mindy turned to James. "Do YOU have something to say Jamie?"

James frowned and thought about it a moment before looking at Trevor and nodding towards Taylor. "Bring her home pregnant and die." He didn't really mean it but he figured it couldn't hurt to practice for the dates with boys the other girls wouldn't be allowed to have.

"Yaaay Jamie!" Mindy hugged his waist and grinned. "You threatened your first boy!"

Taylor could only shake her head and usher Trevor out the door as fast as she could while Natalya hid her face in Vanessa's cheek to hide her snickering.

…

Cooper, who had slipped into the house unnoticed by anyone else, also slipped downstairs without anyone noticing. Not at first anyway. He heard a whole bunch of commotion coming from one of the bathrooms but he didn't stop to see what was going on. Instead he went downstairs to get a drink of water, which was where he found Snoopy eating out of his dish and Natalya making something on the stove. "What's going on?" he asked groggily.

Natalya looked back at him and frowned. He had his sunglasses on to hide his bloodshot eyes and was still in his clothes from last night. "I'm making Connor soup since he's sick," she told him. "You want any?"

"Nah." He opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle.

"You sure? It's chicken and stars."

"I'm sure." He closed the door and unscrewed the cap, chugging almost half the bottle in one gulp. His throat welcomed the cold liquid since it had started to hurt from how dry it had gotten. "What about the others?"

"Well Taylor just left for her date-"

"Date?" Cooper frowned in confusion. "With who?"

"Some guy named Trevor." She rolled her eyes as he snorted. "What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It's whatever." He took another long drink of water, finishing the bottle completely this time. "Trevor know about her lovely past?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Nattie snapped, not liking his tone at all. "Does it even matter?"

Cooper had several ways to answer that but Nattie looked ready to come over and kick his ass so he just shook his head instead. "Where's everyone else?"

"Bathing the new puppy."

"Puppy?"

"Spartacus." She smirked a bit as she stirred Connor's soup. "James found him on the street. Cute little golden Lab. James named him in case you couldn't tell."

"Oh I could tell," Cooper said with a snort. "What is it with us and pets whose name start with the letter S?"

"You know, that's a good question," Natalya said. "There's Spartacus now…"

"Snoopy the dumbass," Cooper said, nodding down to the beagle who wagged his tail.

"Spike the goat."

"Spencer the English bulldog."

"Spot the English sheepdog-why THAT kind of dog got that name I'll never know."

"I was FIVE!" Cooper said defensively.

Natalya just laughed and grabbed a bowl to pour the soup into it. "There's Spade the horse…and there was Stinker the ferret and Suzy Q the hamster-"

"I think we're all like, really lame," Cooper declared. "Seriously." He ran a hand through his hair, not used to it being so short. He hadn't had short hair in forever. Literally. He had always had it kind of long since he was six. "And I'm going back to bed."

"Already? You JUST got up!" Natalya left Connor's soup on the counter and snagged Cooper's arm before he could get too far. "Cooper…" She forced him to turn around and snatched his sunglasses right off his face before she could stop him. "Oh Jesus Cooper what did you do?"

"Nothing." He didn't know why he thought he could fool her. His bloodshot eyes were giving him away.

"Are you going to be happier when you DIE one day? Huh? Is THAT what you want?" She punched his chest as hard as she could out of frustration."

"You don't even know what I-"

"I know YOU and your coke habit," she snapped. "I know that you're an IDIOT. Do you remember how far you spiraled down last time? Or the time before that?"

"Does it really matter?" he asked. "Nobody gives a shit."

"YES Cooper, some of us do! Even if we have no fucking reason to anymore." She smacked him across the face this time before going back to grabbing the bowl of soup and storming out. Cooper just stood there for a moment before putting the sunglasses back on and going back up to his room to bury himself under his covers and not come back out until tomorrow morning.

…

"So your mom really is Mindy Stratus?" Trevor said as they took their seats at the steakhouse. He pulled her chair out for her and pushed it in once she sat down before moving around the table to sit across from her. He had on a light blue button up shirt and a pair of khakis while she had on a simple white sundress with chunky tan sandals. Her bleached blonde hair had been straightened and was hanging loosely down her back.

"Yeah…" She glanced around and saw that the place wasn't too crowded. Dinner rush apparently hadn't hit full stride yet. "She adopted me not too long ago. Before I turned eighteen obviously. I uh…I was living in a real shithole and I stumbled upon her stepson and was taking care of him and she found out and decided she liked me enough to take us both back home." Simple summary of that whole situation but she didn't feel like getting into too many details. Too much Cooper. Anything involving him killed her mood and she did want to try to have a nice time.

"That's cool." He said that in a totally laid back way. He wasn't completely shitting himself over who her mother was. He had been taken surprise at the door yes but now it seemed like he was taking it as just a piece of information. "Have you always lived here in California?"

She shook her head. "Las Vegas. We've been out here for about a half a year or so." She smiled at the waitress who handed them their drinks and took a sip of her Pepsi. "What about you? You grow up out here?"

He shook his head. "Alabama originally. Cullman, Alabama."

"Never heard of it."

He chuckled lightly. "No, not a whole lot of people have. It wasn't too big. 15,000 people or something like that. I came out here when I turned eighteen.. Fancied myself an actor.'

"I'm noticing the past tense there."

"Yeah. Took about three years but I finally realized I can't act." His lips twitched and he took a drink of his orange soda. He was obviously old enough to get a beer yet he wasn't drinking. "But since I didn't want to go back home and admit defeat, I stayed here and started working."

"What do you do?"

"Construction. Daddy owned a company back home and I did that before I came out here."

"Ah I see." She grabbed her menu and started browsing through it all. "Do you want to share an appetizer?"

"If you want to. If you want your own that's fine too." He watched her face as she looked at the prices and shook his head. "Don't worry about the cost. I wouldn't have brought you here if I couldn't afford it. Kind of embarrassing to take a pretty girl like you to a place and not be able to pay, don't you think?"

A small smile crossed her lips and they ended up sharing some spinach artichoke dip to start out with. She ended up ordering an herb roasted prime rib with a salad on the side and he got a ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes. "So do you go to school?" he asked once their orders were placed. "Like college or anything?"

She shook her head. Truth was she had dropped out of high school long ago but she wasn't sure if she should divulge that information so quickly. "It's just never really interested me. And like, Mom and James need help at home. There's so many kids and another one potentially on the way and Connor's mentally retarded and we have a whole bunch of animals-"

"Never a dull moment huh?" Trevor said with a grin.

"Never ever."

"Sounds like my aunt and uncle. They had six kids and a whole farm of animals. My parents wanted a whole bunch of us but it ended up only being me and my sister."

"Older or younger?"

"Younger. Three years."

"How old are you exactly?"

"Twenty four. Turn twenty five this May."

She nodded, figuring as much. They kept talking as they waited for their food, making mostly small talk and not diving into anything hugely deep. This guy was certainly nice enough. He wasn't exceptionally bright but he wasn't a complete moron. He wasn't wildly funny but he busted out a witty line or two as they talked. He was just a nice, normal guy…maybe even borderline boring. But he was way WAY into her. That was completely obvious. As cool as he was trying to play it, he was way more into her than she was into him. And she had to admit, it was really REALLY nice to be the wanted for once.

…

"You okay Baby Doll?" James asked quietly. They were in the living room with the kids, watching Pet Semetary. The two of them were on the couch with Amber, Elizabeth, Chelsea and Aiden. Amber was sitting on the other side of Mindy while Chelsea was on the other side of James, eating a large tub of chocolate covered popcorn. James had Elizabeth, Mindy and Aiden all in his lap. Lizzie and Aiden were watching the movie with wide eyes while Mindy had her head buried against James's chest. Natalya, Thorn and Scarlett were on the opposite couch while Vanessa was asleep in her carrier. Spartacus was on the floor, attempting to make Snoopy wrestle with him.

"Yeah…"

He kissed the top of her head and held her more tightly. Horror movies were always good for snuggling. Mindy had a death grip on both him and Aiden, who seemed entranced by the movie. Elizabeth was too though she got up off the couch and grabbed Spartacus so she could bring him back up for the snuggle fest. James grinned at her and went to say something when Mindy reached up and petted his face. "Baby Doll?" He kissed her fingertips lightly and turned his attention to her instead.

"If I died would you bury me in the pet semetary?" She was being completely serious with this question. This wasn't a cute hypothetical question. She was giving him a dead serious look.

"I-" Before he could get another word out the lights suddenly went out. No explanation. The lights, the TV, everything went off with no warning, plunging them into darkness. Mindy, Scarlett, Thorn and Amber all screamed and James felt himself choking a bit as Mindy hugged his neck in a vice grip. "What in the HELL was that?" he asked.

"Well I'm not a genius but I'm gonna go with a power outage," Natalya replied.

"Oh THANK you Nattie! I couldn't have POSSIBLY figured that one out by myself." All sarcasm was completely intended.

"Question is WHY." She was ignoring the sarcasm for the moment. "It's not storming out-ooooh did you forget to pay the electric bill?"

"No. It can't be that." He started trying to stand up but Mindy (along with Elizabeth and Aiden now) were clinging to him like spider monkeys now. "I'll check the fuse box." He tried to get up again but Mindy wasn't letting him go. "Baby Doll I gotta check the fuse box."

"No no no no no." She shook her head and clung to him more tightly. "Don't go Jamie don't go."

"Baby Doll it's okay baby I-"

"Nooo don't go Jamie don't." She buried her face in his neck and cried. "What if it's the PETS?"

"The pets?" Even though he couldn't see her he could feel her nodding. "Baby Doll no that movie isn't real baby it-" The lights and TV suddenly came back on, as if nothing had happened. "Okay that was just weird."

"Think anyone else lost power?" Nattie asked as she snuggled Thorn and Scarlett, who had both jumped into her lap.

"Or maybe it was Connor fucking with us," Scarlett said with a sniffle.

James shook his head. "I checked on him a bit ago and he can barely get out of bed. I don't think he could have-"

BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Mindy, Nattie and the kids all screamed, Vanessa along with them now that was firmly awakened from her lap. Snoopy and Spartacus howled and barked while Oxa growled and lowered herself into a pounce position. James forcibly moved everyone off his lap and got to his feet, his hand reaching in his pocket for his knife. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'll be back." He left the room before anyone could protest. His knife was out, clutched firmly in his hand as he began his investigation. He wasn't sure where the banging had come from but he was hell bent on finding out. Was it Connor? Had he gotten into something? That was possible, even what he had just said a minute ago. "Connor?" he called out. "Connor was that you?"

No answer. Swallowing hard, James kept looking around, the grip on his knife so tight that his knuckles were turning white. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. It wasn't a feeling that he enjoyed at all. _Nobody can be in the house,_ he told himself as he kept looking. _Doors are all locked and the new security system is in place. You tested it out yourself. It's gotta be Cooper or Connor creeping around._

Not finding anything downstairs, he went upstairs to check. "Connor?" He heard a thump in the nearest bathroom. "Connor? Cooper? Is that one of you?"

"No!" They both yelled from their bedrooms. James's eyes widened and then narrowed at the bathroom door. Something was in there. He grabbed the door handle and slowly opened it, his grip on the knife intensifying even more. He flipped the light on, seeing nobody there. Just to be sure though, he went inside, pulling back the shower curtain and seeing nobody there. "What the fuck is going on…"

BANG! The bathroom door slammed shut without warning and the lights went off again. "What the FUCK?" he yelped.

"Jamie!" Mindy yelled. "Jamie what the FUCK is going on?"

"I don't know!" he called back. "I don't know Baby Doll I don't-" His voice died off when a horrible chill went up his spine. It literally felt like he had been dipped in a pool of ice water. He shivered as the lights came on and out of the corner of his eye, he saw something in the mirror. Something told him that he shouldn't look but he did anyway-and immediately wished he hadn't. It wasn't his reflection looking back at him. It was Caroline's. She was IN the mirror, laughing at him. "CHRIST!" He jumped about a foot in the air and swung his fist out, smashing it against the mirror and breaking it. Caroline's face disappeared as the pieces of the glass fell into the sink but he could have sworn he heard her laughing as Mindy and Natalya rushed upstairs to see what had happened.


	12. Chapter 12

**jadeMK11:** For the Lawson boys it definitely seems to be (though Chelsea fits right in with Stickers). And it really won't matter where they go at this rate. Caroline don't seem to have any boundaries. **Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **Ilse'sPurpleSummer**: I know. She's like herpes; she just don't go away.

Sorry about the short length of this chapter but personal shit has severely delayed my writing. I was supposed to update this days ago.

...

"What the HELL were you doing Jamie?" Mindy asked as she used the tweezers to pick the glass out of James's knuckles. Natalya was tending to Vanessa who was fussing and the other kids were gathered around the table, Amber sitting the closest to Mindy, holding a damp washcloth so she could hand it to her mother when it was time to wipe the blood off his hand. "Why would you punch the mirror?"

"It's not like I WANTED to," James said, wincing as Mindy pulled out a piece that embedded itself particularly deep. "I wasn't exactly planning on doing it."

"But why did you?" Mindy asked. She pulled out the last piece of glass and immediately found the rag being put into her hands.

"There you go Mommy," Amber said.

"Thanks sweetie." Mindy began dabbing away the blood on James's knuckles, making sure to kiss them afterwards. She was a big believer in kissing wounds to make them better.

"Daddy!" Chelsea tugged on James's shirt until he scooped her up into his lap and kissed the top of her head. "I have the Stickers."

James grinned at the red panda that was whining to get out of her grip and nodded. "I see that. You got him real good don't you?"

"Yes." She rested her head against James's chest and he smiled before reaching over and pulling Mindy into his lap as well.

"Jamie WHY did you punch the mirror?" Mindy asked again, petting his face gently.

"I…I saw something in it. When the lights came back on the second time." He was a little reluctant to say WHO it was, partly because he wasn't sure if she had really been there and partly because he was afraid that she HAD really been there. If she hadn't been there then he felt fucking pathetic for seeing her. Between that and more the frequent nightmares he had been having lately, he felt like a completely weak and pathetic asshole. He was a grown man for fuck's sake, with a wife he adored and a houseful of children he doted over. The last thing that should be on his mind was the hag that was his mother. He wasn't the child living under her reign of terror he needed to be past this.

But despite what he was telling himself, what he saw in the mirror felt very real. It wouldn't be the first time she came back. First time was to possess him and terrorize the people he loved the most and the second was to tell him about Elizabeth's kidnapping…so what could she possibly want now? Why was she doing this? Couldn't she just stay dead and in hell where she belonged?

"I saw Mom," he finally confessed, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

Natalya froze in her spot and Mindy's eyes widened. "What do you mean you saw Mom?"

"I saw her in the mirror," he clarified, forcing himself to look at the others now. "At least I THINK I saw her there. I didn't really look for that long. I just saw her, yelled and then punched the mirror and then she went away." He looked at Mindy who was still petting his face. "Have you seen her around Baby Doll?" Mindy had been able to see her during the big haunting that had taken place-before James's body was hijacked anyway.

Mindy shook her head. "No."

"Have you seen anything funny lately?"

"…The OOGEY lady…" Mindy said, her eyes drifting off to the side until he tapped her cheek to make her look at him again. "She went away when you woke up. You scared her."

"Good." He kissed her lightly on the lips and pressed his forehead to hers. "No boogey people are allowed."

"Your mother shouldn't be either," Natalya said, walking over to the couple and letting Mindy take Vanessa out of her arms. "Do you think she was actually in the mirror or-"

"I have no earthly idea," he replied. "I mean that sounds too docile for her but it's HER we're talking about here."

"Maybe we should call some kind of expert in this kind of stuff," Natalya suggested. "Someone who's an expert in ghosts and shit."

"Like Uncle Mark?" Amber said with a frown.

Mindy snorted. "Mark can't do shit. Jamie gutted him and left him to rot in a sewer in Texas."

"And I still don't think they found him," James said, looking to Natalya for confirmation. "Have you ever heard anything about it?"

She shook her head. "Nope. As far as WWE goes he's just missing." She pulled up a chair and pulled Thorn and Scarlett into her lap, kissing the top of their heads. "Seriously though, there's gotta be some way to find out if she's actually hanging around or if you're just seeing shit."

"Yeah well if you think of it before I do, please feel free to share." James was eyeing Oxa who was sitting calmly by Thorn's feet. Last time when Caroline had possessed him, Oxa sure as shit knew that things weren't right. If anyone there was going to know if Caroline was there, it would be Oxa. Oxa looked back at him and they stared at each other for a moment before she left Thorn to nuzzle his leg. He blinked before reaching down to scratch the top of her head. He had no idea if she somehow sensed what it was he was thinking but he felt slightly reassured nonetheless-but only slightly. If Caroline was hanging around then god only knew what would happen until she went away once more.

…

Trevor pulled his pickup truck into the driveway but Taylor didn't immediately get out. She just sat in there with him, only half listening to the country song that was playing on the radio. He had offered to let her change it but she hadn't. She wanted to but she decided to just leave it on what he had it. "So…" she said, trying to decide whether to talk to him some more or just head out and go into the house. "I had a nice time." That wasn't really a lie. She did have a nice time. He may not have been the most interesting or exciting person in the world but he was sweet in his way and compared to some of her other experiences with guys, he was a whole hell of a lot better.

"I'm glad," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "I did too." He glanced out the windshield towards the front door. "Think they'll be waiting to interrogate me?"

Taylor shrugged. "Depends if Mom and James retired for their nightly love fest."

Trevor chuckled lightly, not realizing that she wasn't being sarcastic or joking in any way. Once James and Mindy went to their room, that was it. They weren't coming out until morning. "I guess we'll find out won't we?" He got out of the truck and quickly jogged around the front of it so he could open the door for Taylor before she had barely touched the handle herself. "Here you go," he said, helping her out of the truck.

"Thanks." She stepped out of the way so he could slam the door shut, glancing up towards the windows to see Cooper peering out of his room. She froze and stared back at him, unable to see him as clearly as she was trying to because of how dark it was. Part of her hoped that he had found out about her date and had been waiting for her but she realized how foolish of a thought that was as soon as it crossed her mind. Forcing herself to shake it off, she looked away from the window and walked side by side with Trevor up to the front door.

"Can I uh, see you again?" Trevor asked, playing himself off as casually as he could. Taylor though, could completely read into the fact that he was hoping she would say yes. He wasn't hiding it nearly as well as he thought he was.

"I'll call you," she told him. That was the safest thing to say in this situation. She wasn't sure if she wanted a second date so she could call if she decided she did or she wouldn't if she didn't feel like it. Simple enough. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek since a kiss on the lips felt like it would be leading him on and went into the house, finding Cooper coming down the stairs. "Hey," she said as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey," he said, his voice barely a discernable grunt. He wasn't even looking at her. She couldn't see his eyes from under his sunglasses but his head wasn't even turned towards her. And he wasn't even stopping either. He just kept walking, not even asking her where she had been or if she had a good time or anything. He didn't care. She should have known as much but that didn't stop it from stinging like fuck. She stood there and just watched him go, biting down on her lower lip and trembling a bit. Fuck. This shouldn't be happening. She was supposed to be getting over him yet here she was, feeling like she wanted to cry just because he blatantly blew her off. Fuck. This was NOT how this was supposed to go.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and her head was pushed down on to a shoulder. "Let's talk," Natalya said, leading her the opposite direction that Cooper had gone in. Taylor cast one last glance back the way he had gone before giving in and letting herself be taken upstairs to the twins room, where the girls were waiting to hear all about her date.


	13. Chapter 13

**cathy:** Thank you! **Ilse'sPurpleSummer: **I know. Poor girl. **jadeMK11:** I agree. Too bad she's so stuck on him. It's really hurting her. **Vermillion Lynn:** I know someone who would love to help him fall off the face of the earth...he's only asked eight million times.

...

"What are you doing?" Mindy asked James as she snuggled up against him. The two of them were laying in bed together, naked and sweaty under the covers with Aiden, Elizabeth and Vanessa all snuggled on the bed with them now. James had also grabbed his laptop and was looking at some stuff, which Mindy now was too. Problem for her though was that she couldn't actually read and there weren't any helpful pictures for her to figure it out.

"Looking for uh…paranormal experts in the area," he admitted sheepishly. He glanced down at Elizabeth who was tucked under the arm Mindy wasn't under herself and then looked at Aiden and Vanessa, who were nestled on top of them. "You know, people who could do something about a ghost if there is one around here."

Mindy frowned. "You think Mommy really is here?"

He shrugged. "I HOPE not but given her track record…"

"Jamie" reaching up she grabbed his chin and made him look at her "I haven't seen her and I could see her when you all couldn't, remember? If her ugly ass was hanging around I would SEE her."

"Unless she don't want YOU to see her," James pointed out. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Look, I don't even know if what I saw was real. Maybe my mind was fucking with me. But I CAN'T take any chances. Not with you and the kids." His hand subconsciously went over her stomach and she put hers on top of his. She was officially taking a pregnancy test in the morning to confirm what was pretty much already accepted as fact. "Now if I can only figure out which sites are a crock and which one are legit."

Mindy peered at the computer screen again as he scrolled down it. "Is Mark the only person you know who knows this stuff?"

"Well there's Bearer but considering that he hates my guts I don't think he's an option." If there was anyone Bearer ever hated more than Mindy, it was James. James didn't think the bastard would ever be able to choose who he despised more. Mindy had been the slut that ruined Kane and James had been the "abomination" that ruined Mark. It was a toss-up really. "And I never learned this shit myself." He exited out of the website he was on and started to go for another when he stopped to yawn. "I mean, I thought it was a bunch of shit I-" he yawned again and rubbed his eyes, which were getting blurry from a lack of sleep. "I didn't think…"

"I think it's beddy time for Jaaaamie," Mindy said in a sing song tone. She closed his laptop and moved it away from him.

"No I'm fine," he insisted even as he was pulling her on his chest to join the babies. His eyes were starting to close despite themselves. "I'm fine really I'm fine."

"I think you are not being honest," Mindy said, slowly sliding her finger down the bridge of his nose. "I think you are a sleepy Jamie."

"Mmm…" James sighed and dropped his head on to her shoulder, only faintly hearing her giggling as he fell asleep with his face buried in the crook of her neck.

…

"I just don't even know why I bother," Taylor said with a shake of her head. She was sitting on the bed with Natalya, hugging her knees to her chest. Amber, the twins and Chelsea had fallen asleep, leaving the two of them to talk. "Like, I had a nice time, you know? I really did." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, thankfully not smearing her eye makeup everywhere because it had already been washed off. "I mean, it wasn't EXCITING or anything; but he LIKES me. He was actually INTERESTED in me. No weird mixed signals, no moodiness…it was nice." She sniffled and hugged her knees more tightly. Natalya was lightly playing with her hair and just listening to her talk. "And then Cooper just…he just like blew me off. Didn't even act like I was worth his time of day. Like I was just nothing."

"I know," Natalya said sympathetically. She had seen what had happened between the two once Taylor had come home. "I don't even know what to do with him anymore. He's turned into a complete ass." She tucked a piece of Taylor's hair behind her ear. "I could ask Mamma and Papa Bear to talk to him. He won't listen to me anymore."

Taylor snorted. "What good is that going to do? James don't like me, he won't care if Cooper was an ass to me. And god knows he won't let Mom near Cooper. And even if he did, Cooper wouldn't listen to HER because he would be too busy trying to jump her bones again."

Natalya cringed. She hadn't thought about that. Taylor was probably right but she was going to try anyway. Someone had to reel Cooper and his attitude in and they were the only two that could possibly do it. If he wasn't reeled in she didn't see how they could all keep living with him. She really didn't.

…

First thing in the morning Natalya did try to approach James and Mindy but her plan to talk to them about Cooper fell apart at James waving Mindy's positive pregnancy test in her face. He looked so elated and they were being so lovey dovey that she didn't have the heart to burst their bubble. So, against her better judgment, she decided to wait to tell them about Cooper.

…

"Daddy can we get ice cream?" Thorn asked from the backseat. It was later that afternoon and he had just picked up her and Scarlett from their private school and now they were on their way to the school for gifted children that Amber went to. Mindy had gone to do a photoshoot and an interview to promote her upcoming concert movie and had taken Taylor with her so they could go to the salon after. Natalya was with him, as were Chelsea, Elizabeth, Aiden and Vanessa. Natalya had been trying to talk to him about something but between the babies and texting Mindy he was pretty distracted.

"Sure," he agreed. He was all for that. Mindy wasn't going to be back anytime soon so he needed to keep busy. He forgot how much he hated being apart from her but he knew how much this whole thing meant to her so he was shutting up and dealing with it. They had to hire a new manager for her since he had set the last one on fire and he had made sure that one was employed that was completely subservient to HIM. Absolutely no shit was to be given to Mindy about her weight because he saw nothing wrong with it. She was fine the way she naturally was and the poor guy they had hired had been given warning of what would happen to him if she started losing weight again.

"Daddy!" Chelsea yelled from her spot between Elizabeth and Vanessa.

"Yes Princess?" he asked as he glanced back at her. He couldn't help the grin that immediately crossed his face as he did so. She out of everyone had him so whipped it wasn't even funny.

"Stickers want ice cream TOO!" she told him, squeezing the poor animal until it made a high pitched squealing noise and flailed its paws around to be released.

"Does he now?"

"YES!"

"Well we'll get him some." He turned back around so he could focus on the road. They were almost to Amber's school and he knew they wouldn't be too long since she was always in the front waiting for him and Mindy. She had all kinds of issues in school. He and Mindy had discussed pulling her out of school for good because of it and just giving her tutors, though as of now it hadn't been done. Maybe he would bring up the idea to Mindy again later tonight.

…

Amber sat out on the bench outside of the school, kicking her feet absently while doodling in her notebook as she waited for James's car to pull up. She had gotten out here a little early so she was stuck waiting. James usually was right on time so she shouldn't have too much longer to wait.

As she glanced down the road to see if she saw James's car, her notebook was snatched right out of her hand. "Hey!" She looked back over and saw that it was now in the possession of Seth Stewart. Seth was in a couple of grades above her but seemed to take great delight in tormenting her. His friends Jordan and Benny were with him and several of the girls in Amber's class had stopped to watch the proceedings.

"Heya loser," Seth said, getting laughs from the people around him even though he wasn't actually funny. "Whatcha got in here?"

"None of your business." She got up to her feet and tried to take it back but Seth jumped back just out of her reach. "Seth!" she said in frustration. "Give it back!"

"Why?" he asked. He kept out of her reach as he flipped through her notebook, depending on Benny and Jordan to block her path to him. "You got secrets in here? Huh?" He kept flipping through the notebook, absently ripping out pages as he did so, some of which contained her homework. Amber scowled and tried to just push through Jordan and Benny only to get shoved down on her ass by the two of them. She scraped her hands trying to catch herself, wincing at not only the pain but at the laughter that followed. Benny and Jordan were laughing the hardest, though that ended the moment that the large figure that stormed up behind them grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and lifted them up a good few feet in the air.

"If you EVER put your hands on my daughter again, you won't have time to regret it," he snarled, shaving about twenty years off Jordan and Benny's lives. "Do you understand me?"

The boys nodded and he unceremoniously dropped them back to the ground, which just left Seth. "Give me that," James ordered as he just snatched it out of his hands. He reared his hand back like he was going to whack him in the head with it and Seth went running as fast as he could. James watched him go and then scooped Amber up into his arms, giving the other kids still standing around the most deadly glare he could muster before turning his head back around. No teachers were around to witness or stop what just happened and that angered the fuck out of him. His daughter was getting fucking bullied and would have still been if he had not pulled up in the car. "You okay Pumpkin?" he asked gently.

She nodded, though he wasn't convinced. He checked her hands over, wincing at how scraped up they were. "Shiiit." He barley noticed that Natalya had already opened the car door for him and just sat Amber down on the seat, taking the clean handkerchief he had in his back pocket out so he could dab away the blood coming from the scrapes. The others all just watched in silence, pretty much deciding it was best to just keep quiet until James said something. He had softened up while babying Amber but he still looked like he could explode at any minute. He was talking softly to her though she wasn't saying too much-mostly just nodding or shaking her head in response. Natalya could clearly see though that he wasn't going to just let this rest. Someone's head was going to roll before this one was all said and done.

…

"Don't fucking even GIVE me that bullshit!" James yelled. He was on the phone with the principal of Amber's school and was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Mindy and Amber were both snuggled up on the couch watching him go, Natalya and Taylor were trying to keep the other kids busy though with the way James was yelling the entire house could hear him. "I don't give a rat's ass if you don't think my way of handling it was "appropriate" or not. I fucking don't. You can all kiss my mother fucking ass in D fucking minor."

"MY line Jamie!" Mindy piped in, hugging Amber closer to her and kissing the top of her head.

"I learn from the best," he told her before focusing back on his conversation. "No no no no you listen to ME you stupid bitch." Oh boy. He was really gearing up now. "Those little fucks are lucky I didn't strangle them. My daughter has nothing but problems at that fucking place because it's filled with little shits that need to learn how to fucking behave and dumbass teachers who not only refuse to do shit, but fucking PICK ON HER and try to make a mockery of her intelligence. What the FUCK is that shit? Explain it to me. I'd like to hear the rationale there." He paused for a moment, making faces even though the woman on the other end couldn't see them. "Could you stammer any more in that sentence there? Huh? Don't you fucking talk to me like that YOU and you IDIOTS at that school are the problem Amber has done NOTHING to you. I shouldn't have to find her getting shoved around by BOYS and NOBODY fucking putting a stop to it. I don't CARE if their parents want to try to get pissy about it. LET them file whatever charges they want. I'll fucking file them right back and make sure to make their lives a fucking legal hell." He paused again, stopping in his tracks and listening to whatever was being said on the other end. "You know what? Just fuck you all. I'm done with dealing with this. Take your stupid fucking school and shove it up your ass."

"Think he'll break his phone again?" Amber asked Mindy as James hung up.

"Eh…I think he'll break my coffee table." Mindy's eyes about bugged out of her head as James raised his foot to do just that. "JAMES!"

"Kidding!" James lowered his foot and flopped down on the couch with them instead. "Believe me, I don't want to go table shopping again."

"You would if I told you too," Mindy pointed out.

"But you wouldn't…right?"

"Well….I've been meaning to redecorate the kitchen." She saw the look of pure dread come across his face and cackled loudly at him.

"You're fucked Daddy," Amber said with a shake of her head.

"Indeed." He lightly pinched Mindy's ribs in retalliation before reaching over to smooth down Amber's hair. "And YOU are officially being withdrawn out of that fucking school. We'll get you tutors so you don't have to deal with that shit. That sound okay with you?"

She nodded. "I would hope so after that performance." She couldn't imagine what her principal would think of her after that lovely bit of venom from James-not that it wasn't well deserved. "You looked like Mommy stomping around like that."

"Well hey, like I said, I learned from the best." He nudged Mindy playfully, who gave him the finger in response.

Amber snorted and looked over at Spartacus, who was jumping up on the couch to join them. "Heeey." She pulled him on to her lap and pet him for a moment before giving James a more serious look. "Thank you though. For you know…"

"Pumpkin, if I had done anything less you should have disowned me on the spot. Though…I gotta say I wish I had smashed their heads together like a couple of coconuts."

"Yeah…" Amber couldn't help but happily imagine that scenario. "Probably better to avoid THAT lawsuit though."

"I guess."


	14. Chapter 14

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer:** He really is. **jadeMK11: **Damn right. And I know. She can't catch a break. **cathy:** Thank you! **Vermillion Lynn:** They really are. Tis their way.

...

"So what did Bub do now?" Mindy asked as she snuggled herself on James's lap. It had been decided that Pictionary would be their game tonight, despite James's protests. Hell, it was because of his protests that Mindy insisted that they play it, just so he could pout and be grouchy about how bad he was at the game. The teams were going to be Mindy, James, Amber and Taylor vs. Natalya, Connor, Thorn and Scarlett. Chelsea was sitting next to James, drawing her own pictures while Elizabeth and Aiden played on the floor with Spartacus and Snoopy and Vanessa sat in her carrier. Amber was writing down what items they were going to draw and putting them in one of James's baseball caps so they could be drawn.

"He's just not stopping with being an ass," Natalya answered. "He just totally blew off Taylor after her date. Acted like she wasn't even good enough to talk to." She ran a hand through her blonde hair, which had a fresh set of pink streaks through it. She and Amber both had them, though Amber had less than she did. "His entire attitude needs adjusted."

"So adjust it," James said, wrapping his arm around Mindy's waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "You're perfectly capable and he listens to you."

Natalya shook her head. "Not anymore. I tried to talk to him but I can't get through to him. You or Miss Mindy needs to do it."

James curled his lips unhappily. That was about the last thing he wanted to hear or do. He hated even having Cooper in his house; having anything to do with him was asking for too much.

"Where is he?" Mindy asked, glancing around. "I could-"

"He's gone and you're not doing it Baby Doll," James told her, not even letting her finish that sentence. "No way."

"James-"

"I don't trust him around you." James pet her hair and shook his head. "I don't. Not alone."

"So we'll talk together," Mindy concluded and James felt his eye twitch. That wasn't an appealing option to him either. Only appealing option to him was either killing Cooper or tossing him out of the house for good. But Mindy still wasn't hearing it and in honor of the promise they made to each other and to keep it away from the kids, James didn't bother to fight at the moment. He just kissed her neck and hugged her more tightly, watching Amber shake up the hat so that all the drawing choices could be mixed up. Mindy had gotten out the pastels to draw with and just like he had before, he had chosen the pink one. That got him a fair bit of teasing and some pouting from Natalya because that was the one that she wanted but he didn't care. He was going to suck at this game anyway so he might as well have the color that would make him happy.

…

The bright blue strobe lights in the club was hurting Cooper's eyes as he tried to navigate his way towards the door. Finding that door was easier said than done though, because he had seemingly forgotten where it was. The alcohol he had drank was making him unsteady on his feet and the residue of the coke he snorted was still on his nostrils. The dealer had ripped him off. He knew it. It had cost him way more to get than it should have but whatever. He had stopped caring once it was in his system. Now to just get out of here though. It was too loud, too hot; he felt like he was freaking out. He had to get out of here.

He bumped into several people as he went, earning himself several dirty looks as he went. He hardly even noticed though. He finally found the door and burst out of it, nearly colliding with a couple that was coming into the club. The man pushed him away and growled something but he wasn't even listening. He just started running, not even paying attention to where he was going. It didn't matter where he was going. He was out now, completely free and that was all that mattered.

…

"What is THAT Daddy?" Scarlett asked, looking at James's drawing with an almost offended look on her face. The teams were about tied, since Natalya was really good at guessing before the time to draw was up and Connor kept giving everything away for his team, letting Mindy capitalize obnoxiously. Now though, it was James's turn and nobody, not even his own team, knew what it was he was drawing. Amber hadn't the slightest clue and she was the one that came up with what they were going to draw.

"Is it a MOOSE?" Connor asked.

"Is it a PONY?" Thorn asked, tilting her head to the side to see if that angle helped any.

"Jamie darling WHAT is that?" Mindy was just baffled.

"Dude, you can't draw something that unrecognizable," Taylor said, barely containing her laughter. "That's kind of unfair-"

"I'm NOT doing it on purpose!" James snapped. He was getting flustered from the teasing, so his drawing was getting even worse. "Damn it Pumpkin why did you have to put something so complicated on here."

"I didn't know your drawing ability was worse than Lizzie's!" Amber replied, making him pout and become even more flustered. "I WROTE this list and I don't even know what that is."

James put the finishing up and just barely restrained himself from slamming Mindy's pastel on the table. "It's the CAR!" he yelled. "CAR god damn it!"

"That is NOT a car I've ever seen," Natalya said with a shake of her head.

"Me either," Connor agreed. "Daddy, you're disqualified."

"Fine. Whatever. I didn't want to win anyway." Yes he had. He had actually tried to draw something good and not only failed but got shit on as well. He folded his arms over his chest and pouted until Mindy kissed him. He happily kissed her back then, the two of them making out until Amber cleared her throat loudly.

"I'm sorry but are we boring you?"

"Shush offspring," Mindy ordered. "I'm trying to make Daddy feel better." She pet James's face lovingly and smiled. "Will you make me a virgin Hurricane Jamie?" How getting her a mixed drink was supposed to make him feel better was beyond everyone else but he smiled and nodded anyway.

"Anything you want Baby Doll." He got up and tried to put her back in the chair so he could go make it but she clung to him like a spider monkey. "Baby Doll?" He pet her hair and kissed her, noticing her grip on him was getting tighter. "We'll be back," he told the others as he carried Mindy into the kitchen with him. They had a little mini-bar set up in there and he set her down on it so he could get the stuff out of the fridge but she reeled him back in, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Don't you want your drink Baby Doll?" he asked as he kissed her.

She shook her head and deepened the kiss, holding on to him even more tightly so he couldn't get away. Not that he was trying. He just kept kissing her, settling himself between her legs, his body heating up so fast he didn't notice the cold draft that drifted through the room or felt the pair of eyes glaring daggers at him as he began to grind his groin against Mindy's.

…

Cooper woke up face first on the ground, his cheek pressed against the dirt and the left side of his body on some rocks. He groaned, slowly pushing himself up to his feet and rubbing his bleary eyes so he could look around. He was in a park, though he had no idea where said park was. The sun was just starting to rise and there was nobody else around, thank Christ. That was the last thing he needed. Someone to see him and then either take his picture and sell it to a tabloid (everyone knew he was Mindy's stepson) or to get scared by his appearance and call the cops.

He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and stumbled away from the park, trying to figure out where he was. His arms and legs felt so heavy, like they were pulling him back down towards the ground. The ground was so inviting. He just wanted to lay back down and crash for forever. Somehow though, he made himself keep going. It was harder than hell though. His body was starting shiver and he rubbed his arms with his hands, trying to will himself to get warm again. He had no idea how long he had been laying on the ground like that. His shirt and jeans were wet from the dew that had been on the ground. Or maybe he had fallen in a puddle or something. He didn't remember. Everything from last night was one big blur, just like it always was when he did this shit. Part of him hated the loss of memory but not enough to make him admit that he needed to stop.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked faster, feeling horribly unsteady on his feet. His head was pounding like crazy. His stomach was churning in knots, making him feel like he was going to throw up. He tried to resist that urge at first but it became too much. He ducked behind the nearest tree and puked his brains out, his head spinning wildly and his eyes tearing up on their own. He did feel slightly better afterwards at least, though he didn't have anything to help freshen his breath with. That sucked but he started walking once more, making it home nearly a half hour later. He slipped in through the front door, realizing that it was Saturday and hoping that nobody else would be up yet to see him come in.

"What in the hell-oh for FUCK'S sake!"

Cooper cringed at that voice, looking up to see James standing at the staircase looking down at him in disgust. Shit. He was totally and completely fucked.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer:** My sentiments exactly. **jadeMK11:** Oh I'm sure he would appreciate it. **cathy**: Thank you!

...

"What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" James followed that question up by grabbing Cooper by the scruff of the neck and slamming him head first into the wall. Cooper hadn't had any time to put his hands up in defense so he saw stars as his skull bounced off that wall violently. "Are you fucking serious?" James was yelling so loud that he was waking the entire house up. Taylor got there first, her hand going over her mouth as she laid eyes what was happening. Her first instinct was to try to get involved but the look in James's eyes made her stay where she was. He looked absolutely furious. Whatever Cooper did, it was bad. Really really bad.

"Let me go!" Cooper said, trying to twist himself out of James's grip. That didn't really work out for him though. All it got him was slammed into the wall yet again, much harder this time. "D-"

"Shut up." James slammed his head into the wall again, this time so hard that it just about knocked Cooper unconscious. James held him up by the scruff of the neck so he wouldn't slump down to the floor as he started checking his pockets. "I'm not having this shit in my house. Do you understand me? I am NOT going to fucking put up with-"

"Jamie?" the high pitched Canadian voice made James stop and look towards the stairs, where Mindy was coming down with Scarlett and Amber on her heels. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for drugs," James replied.

Mindy blinked in confusion. "What?"

"DRUGS Baby Doll." He didn't find anything in Cooper's pockets so he let him go and went to her instead, wrapping his arm around her waist and nuzzling her lightly. "Look at him Baby Doll. He's fucking back on the fucking coke again."

Mindy cocked her head slightly and stared at Cooper with a wide eyed stare. James had been in the process of going to get her pills when he had caught Cooper coming in so she was still unmedicated. She stared at Cooper distrustfully before burying her head against James's chest. James kissed the top of her head before scooping her up into his arms. "Let's get breakfast Baby Doll." As much as he would love to continue kicking the crap out of Cooper for being an idiot, Mindy came first…she came first over pretty much everybody else. He made sure to give Cooper a glare that spelled all kinds of trouble in his future before taking her to the kitchen, Thorn, Scarlett and Chelsea on his heels. Amber lingered behind to not only shake her head at Cooper, but at Taylor who made her way down the stairs and knelt down by his side.

"Oh Christ you're bleeding…" Taylor winced at the blood trickling down from right above his eyebrow. As loud of a thud as Cooper's head had been making on the wall, she hadn't realized James had been smashing him THAT hard. "Come here…" She put one of his arms over her shoulder and tried to pull him up to his feet. It wasn't exactly easy though, considering how big he was and how much of a help he was not being. "Come on Cooper stand up," she pleaded. Amber wasn't going to help Cooper (she was already giving Taylor quite the disbelieving look), Natalya was presumably upstairs tending to the infants and Connor wouldn't be any help whatsoever. If he saw the condition Cooper was in he would just freak out and make a bigger mess of the situation.

"Fuck me…" Cooper finally helped out by getting to his feet, though he was incredibly woozy. Taylor had to tighten her grip on him as she began to help him up the stairs. She was trying to ignore the disapproving look Amber was giving her as she went. She shouldn't really be helping him. He didn't really deserve her help, given all the shit that had been going on. But what else was she going to do? He was a crashed out mess yet again and he sure as hell wasn't going to take care of himself. So it had to be her-again.

…

"Baby Doll this CAN'T go on," James said after breakfast. He had gotten her pill jacked milkshake in her and made blueberry pancakes, eggs and toast for breakfast before sending the kids off to play so he could talk to Mindy alone. They were sitting at the table together, Mindy snuggled on his lap and playing with his hair.

She frowned. "What can't go on Jamie?"

"Cooper," he told her, his fingers lightly running through her long mane of raven hair. "Baby Doll he's fucking back on the drugs and I'm NOT having that in our house."

"So we make him stop," Mindy said simply but James wasn't having it.

"Like you did before? Baby Doll, that only worked for awhile. Besides, it's not our responsibility. He's a grown man. If he wants to be an idiot then he needs to just go be an idiot. We have KIDS they don't need to be exposed to his idiocy."

"So where is he going to live? On the street?" Mindy frowned and adjusted herself so that she was straddled over James's waist. "He'll just get in trouble and then the cops will call us and we will have to go get him-"

"We won't HAVE to do shit," James objected, his tone getting a little more forceful than he had intended. "He's an ADULT Baby Doll. He's NEVER going to take care of himself if he knows that he has you to fall back on." He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his forehead to hers. "Baby Doll just listen to me PLEASE. We have seven kids plus another one on the way-that's more than enough on our plate. We don't need to be catering to Cooper and his inability to take care of himself on top of all that." He pet her face and lightly rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. "I don't want him trying to pull us apart again Baby Doll. I love you."

"I love you more," Mindy countered, wrapping her arms around James's neck and clinging to him tightly. "I don't like it when you go away don't go away Jamie."

James frowned in confusion at that one. "Where would I go Baby Doll?" He hugged her more tightly and kissed her softly. "Huh? Where am I gonna go?" Frowning at the teary eyed look she was giving him he kissed her harder and gripped a handful of her hair. "I LOVE you Baby Doll I wouldn't go anywhere."

"You do though," Mindy accused, unaware of Amber and Thorn listening in from the doorway. "You do and I don't like it. Don't go Jamie don't go…"

"Baby Doll I haven't been going anywhere. Only people I've been around besides you are the kids…" Rubbing her back gently he tried to just coo in her ear but she grabbed his face and kissed him hard. He readily accepted the kiss and Amber and Thorn bailed just as he swiped a hand out and cleared the table with one big swoop. He laid Mindy down on the table and hiked up her dress so it was all the way up above her breasts. He started kissing his way down her body, starting at her lips before moving down to her neck, nipping at her collarbone before going down to her chest. He squeezed each individual breast and lightly licked and sucked on her nipples until they were hardened nubs. He continued his path downwards, kissing her stomach before latching his teeth on to her panties and pulling them off.

"Mmmm Jamie…" She put a hand between her legs and started to rub herself, which made his cock harden beyond belief inside his jeans.

"Christ Baby Doll…" Pulling up his chair so he could sit, he took her hand and licked it before putting her legs up on his shoulders and settling his head between her legs. He placed a gentle kiss on her clit, smirking as he felt her grab his head to keep her in place. "You like that Baby Doll?" He swiped his tongue between her folds, savoring how wet she was for him.

"Jamie!" She pressed his head harder to him, gasping as he spread her folds apart with his fingers and slid his tongue into her. "Yes! Jamie! Yes yes yes fucking perfect Jamie!" She humped his face wildly, forcing him to grab her thighs so she wouldn't break his nose with her humping. He rubbed the tip of his tongue all across her walls to make her moan even louder. "Yes! Fuck Jamie yes like that. Lick me like that baby so perfect."

James's cock was straining to get out of his jeans so he let go of her thighs so he could release it from its confines. He stroked it a couple of time before reaching up to squeeze and knead her breasts as he licked her even deeper. He scraped his teeth against her clit lightly and was rewarded with her humping his mouth once more. "That's it Jamie that's it!" Mindy watched him go and pressed his head to her even harder. "That's it baby. Oh fuck Jamie I'm gonna cum I'm gonna cum."

James pushed his tongue even deeper inside of her, which made her throw her head back as she came hard. He lapped up her juices and kissed his way back up her body, positioning himself between her legs and rubbing the head of his cock against her pussy. "You want me to fuck you Baby Doll? Huh?" He rubbed himself harder, some of the precum smearing all over her in the process. "You want me to fuck you?"

"Fuck yeah!" Mindy wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid himself right in to her, both of them moaning loudly as he did it. "So fucking big Jamie."

"Mmmm…" He kissed her hard, his tongue sliding into her mouth sloppily. "You're so tight Baby Doll." His thrusts were smooth and hard, made all the easier by just how wet she was for him. "Fucking squeezing my cock so perfect."

"Harder Jamie," she pleaded. Her hands squeezed his ass, pulling him closer and deeper into her.

"Harder?" He started thrusting faster, his mouth dangling barely an inch above hers and his hands squeezing her breasts. "Like that Baby Doll?"

"Mmm fuck Jamie!" She squeezed her legs around his waist and dug her nails into his flesh. "Stretch my pussy with that big cock of yours."

"Oh fuck Baby Doll…" James slapped his hand on to the table, knocking over the grape jelly that had been left out for the toast. Without missing a beat he stuck his fingers in the jar and smeared some all over her chest. He then licked it off happily before kissing her hard. His thrusts got harder and faster as they made out, his hand reaching down between them so he could start rubbing her clit with three fingers. "Cum for me Baby Doll. Cum for me baby I want you to cum."

"Mmmm fuck Jamie!" She reached down and squeezed his balls lightly, their orgasms triggered almost simultaneously. He lifted her up off the table and collapsed back on to his chair with her on his lap, their lips locked together as they happily made out. The way her arms and legs were still wrapped around him let him know that from beyond their bedroom, he wasn't going anywhere today-and he had absolutely no problem with that whatsoever.

…

Cooper had no idea exactly when or for how long he passed out for. What he did know was that he woke up Taylor and Amber were both in his room, playing cards to pass the time. "Ugh fuck…"

"Oh look, the idiot awakens," Amber said, not at all amused at the moment. Taylor tried to give her a pleading look not to start but she wasn't having any of it. "I hope you feel like hell."

"Oh believe me, I do." He wasn't just saying that to please her. He really did feel like shit.

"Here." Taylor handed him a bottle of water that she had been keeping by her side. "Drink this."

Cooper happily accepted it and downed nearly half of it in one gulp. "Thanks." He set the bottle on the table next to his bed and propped himself up on his elbows. "What are you guys doing in here?"

"She's watching over you and I'm here to remind her that you're not worth it," Amber said rather bluntly.

His eye twitched slightly. "Geez Amber. Say what you really feel. Don't hold anything back now."

"Well what do you EXPECT?" Her blue eyes narrowed angrily and she was ready to just let him have it. "Did you expect us to feel SORRY for you? Maybe if we thought you were just addicted to the stuff but the only thing you're addicted to is self destruction. You just want to fall into a black hole of despair in hopes that Mom or someone will pull you back out because you can't take responsibility for your own actions."

Cooper had no response to that and Taylor tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. "Mom and James are in their room so you won't get killed right away," she told him.

"But Mom's not keeping him busy for YOU," Amber said coldly before he could get any ideas. "She's convinced that he goes away so she's keeping him all to herself."

Cooper blinked in confusion. "But he doesn't even have a life outside you guys."

"Yeah well apparently she don't want him to have a life outside of HER. At least not from the sounds of it." Amber shrugged apathetically before starting to put the cards away. "Sooner or later though, he's gonna kick your ass again. He already told her he's not dealing with this again. He has her and us to take care of he don't need YOU making things difficult."

Once again Cooper had nothing to say to that. He put his hand up to run it through his hair and noticed that he had a bandage on his eyebrow. "What-"

"You were bleeding," Taylor informed him. "I thought you were going to need stitches at first but it was more superficial than anything. He just made sure the wall caught you in just the right way to bust you up."

"Fucking christ…" Cooper pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remember if he had any aspirin laying around. He didn't think so, which meant that he would either have to get Taylor to go get it for him or he would have to venture out himself and possibly risk bodily harm.

"Cooper…" Taylor moved from the chair she had been sitting in so she could sit on the bed with him. "I know you're not going to want to hear this but I think you need help."

Cooper immediately made a face at that. She was right, he didn't want to hear this. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I don't fucking need shit."

"YES you do!" Taylor insisted. She slapped her palms to the bed in frustration. "Cooper this is serious! You've got a serious problem with this shit and Mom's not gonna help you quit cold turkey like last time. James won't let her. He wants you OUT and according to Amber, Mom wasn't arguing your case to stay that well. He's convincing her that you're a HINDERANCE on their relationship and as much as she might love you, she won't choose you over him. Not in the end."

Those words stung, not only because he didn't want to hear them but they were true. God help him they were true. She and James had nearly been ripped apart before but they had gotten through it and were still together. They were both completely insane about each other…some would even say to an unhealthy level. It was hard to say who was more obsessed with who. Didn't really matter. Cooper was shit out of luck because he wasn't James. If James had never existed would he have had a chance? Yes. Absolutely. But that wasn't the case and there was nothing that could be done. Deep down, Cooper knew that he HAD to move on. For his sanity's sake he needed to do it. This was driving him nuts. But he very rarely ever acknowledged that he knew this fact. He was too stubborn and too in love to do it. Maybe he was just addicted to the misery of it all. He had forsaken Jeff and Taylor for Mindy and it took him ages to get over Joie…maybe pain was the addiction for him.

"Let me help you," Taylor pleaded. She scooted closer to him and hesitantly touched his arm gently. She was afraid that he would flinch back or push her away but became more relaxed when he did neither. "Cooper PLEASE let me help you."

"What are YOU going to do?" Cooper asked. "What can YOU do?"

"I can figure out SOMETHING if you just LET me," she shot back. She scooted even closer and held his arm more tightly to try to keep him from rolling away. "Don't shut me out here. Let me HELP you. Please…"

Cooper just stared at her for a moment before surprising her, Amber and himself by resting his head on her lap. Taylor stayed completely frozen for a moment before hesitantly moving her hand and started to gently pet his hair.


	16. Chapter 16

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer**: One can hope. It would be nice if this turned out to truly be one for him. **jadeMK11**: I see your point and you could be right but she loves him. And love does make you do some whacky shit.** cathy:** Thank you! **Vermillion Lynn:** Yeeep. And that's not ending any time soon.

...

"Here Jamie," Mindy said as she held up a French fry to James's lips. The only reason they had left their room that day was to go through the McDonalds drive thru and bring them home some food. Natalya and Taylor were taking care of the kids as far as James knew though he wasn't getting any time to think about it; Mindy was all over him and his attention was on nowhere else but her.

"Thank you Baby Doll." He took the French fry out of her hand and munched on it happily. He was sitting with his back against their mountain of pillows and with her on his lap and the food spread out in front of them. The TV was on Animal Planet though neither one of them was really watching it. He was only wearing his boxers and she had on a pair of red bra and panties though knowing them it wouldn't be too much longer until those went as well. "Here…" he snagged one of her chicken nuggets and held it up to her mouth. "For you my darling."

"THANK you Jamie." Mindy ate it and gave him a kiss on the lips. He deepened it, sparking a small make-out session before they went back to eating. They were trying to finish before their food got completely cold though it was hard when they couldn't get keep their hands (or any of their other parts) off each other. "See I TOLD you that eating it here was better."

He smiled and nuzzled her neck gently. "Yes you did." He snagged his milkshake and took a quick drink from it. "What's the score now?"

"Twelve million to nada," she declared proudly.

"That much?"

"Well you make it SO easy to be right my darling." She ran her finger down the bridge of his nose, giggling as he tilted his head back and nipped at her. "Georgia agrees with me."

"Does she now?" James placed a hand over Mindy's stomach as she nodded.

"Yep!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. "She also wants you to come with me tomorrow."

He frowned slightly. "Where are you going?"

"Rehearsing for the concert. We'll have a camera crew shooting behind the scene stuff and they'll want to talk to me and you too they said they wanted to talk to you. And I want you to come Jamie darling I do I-"

He cut her off with a kiss, lacing his fingers with hers. "Of course I'll come Baby Doll," he assured her. He could tell there wouldn't be much more eating so he snagged what food they had left and put it aside so they wouldn't be laying in it. "You don't even have to ask." He wrapped both arms around her waist and pressed his forehead to hers. She lightly ran her fingers across the beauty mark on his neck and they kissed again. He took one hand off of her long enough to shut off the TV before tossing the remote aside and removing her bra. He dropped that down to the floor and kept kissing her, his hands sliding up to her chest to squeeze and knead her breasts.

"Jamie…" Moaning she arched her chest into his hands while reaching down to rub his groin through his boxers.

"Oh fuck Baby Doll," he moaned. He arched up into her hand, grinding himself against it as much as he could.

"Are you getting hard for me Jamie?" she asked, rubbing him harder.

He nodded. "Oh yeah." He kissed her hard and kept grinding into her hand. "I'm getting so hard for you Baby Doll."

"Mmm Jamie…" She moved off his lap and pulled down his boxers so she could see for herself what she was doing to him. "Oh Jamie you're so hard." She wrapped a hand around the base of his cock and began stroking him slowly. He moaned and started to hump her hand, moaning louder as she teased the head of his cock with her tongue.

"Fuck Baby Doll…want your mouth so bad…"

Mindy smirked and licked the vein on the underside of his cock before wrapping her mouth around the head, probing the slit with the tip of her tongue to drive him crazy. He gripped the bed sheet tightly and tried to keep himself from thrusting wildly into her mouth. "Oh Jesus fuck Baby Doll suck me come on baby." He watched her run her tongue all across his cock before drawing it back into her mouth, sucking on it hard. "Oh fuck!" He gripped the sheets more tightly, his knuckles turning white as he did. "That's it Baby Doll. Fucking suck me so good." He watched her draw more of him into her mouth and moaned as she gently squeezed his balls. He let go of the sheets and grabbed her hair, pumping his hips into her mouth. His eyes stayed glued on her as she switched her mouth down to his balls, massaging them with her tongue as she wrapped her hand around his cock and stroked it. Her other hand reached down between her legs and she slid three fingers inside of her to get them wet before sliding them into James.

"Fuck!" he moaned, arching his hips up sharply. His head went back and he gripped the bed sheets once more. "Fuck fuck fuck Baby Doll!"

She fingered him harder and lapped up the precum that was leaking from the head before taking him back in her mouth and sucking hard. He gripped her hair once more and watched her, moaning loudly as his hot seed shot down her throat. "Get hard for me baby," she said, stroking his cock slowly once more. She was so wet she was humping his thigh and the sight of that alone made his cock start to twitch back to life. "Get hard Jamie I need you to fuck me."

"Come 'ere Baby Doll." He pulled her up to him and kissed her hard, sliding three fingers inside of her and fucking her hard with them.

"James!" She rode his fingers wildly and arched her chest as he moved his mouth over it. He sucked and kissed each breast and rubbed fast circles around her clit with his thumb, quickly bringing her to her orgasm. As she caught her breath he removed his fingers and rubbed her wetness on to his hardened cock before thrusting up into her. "Mmmm Jamie yes!" she moaned. She was riding him once again, her head thrown back in pleasure. "Fucking yes Jamie so perfect."

He gripped her hair and kissed her hard, thrusting faster to make her moan. "So fucking tight and wet." It felt so good that he could hardly form a halfway coherent sentence. "So fucking tight and wet around my cock."

"So big Jamie!" Mindy was riding him even faster, her moans spiking as he started to rub her clit with his middle and index fingers. "Fucking stretching my pussy so perfect." She opened her legs wider and rode him faster yet. He thrusted even faster, rubbing her clit, the two of them cumming at almost the same time. They both panted for breath and pressed foreheads, James nipping at her lower lip to make her giggle before kissing her deeply.

…

"I don't get WHY she's helping him," Amber lamented to Natalya. They were in the kitchen talking. Natalya was feeding Vanessa while Aiden fed himself Cheerios that were laid out before him. Amber was playing fetch with Spartacus as she talked because he was refusing to not accept attention at the moment. Thorn, Scarlett, Chelsea and Elizabeth were in the other room watching Valentine's Day while Mindy and James had their love fest and Taylor tended to Cooper. Amber had no idea where Connor was and given their history, she didn't particularly care. "I don't. He's STUPID and he suckered her back in AGAIN." She threw the ball to Spartacus again and watched him run off, not even managing to crack a smile as he skidded across the hard floor.

"Well, to be fair, he DOES need help," Natalya said, knowing it wasn't really going to do much good to play devil's advocate here. Amber had her mind made up and while Mindy had forced her to ease up on James, nobody could make her budge on her opinion on Cooper.

"But he doesn't deserve HERS," Amber maintained. "She's supposed to be getting over him. She was doing badly enough at that already and now it'll be even worse when he decides to treat her like shit again."

Natalya sighed, knowing that she had a very good point there. With poor Taylor, Cooper's niceness really didn't last too long. They had been doing pretty good as friends for awhile until she confessed that she loved him. From there it just went downhill. "Maybe he doesn't but I think she still loves him. And love makes you do stuff you shouldn't sometimes. And it's not rational and sometimes it's just not good for you at all but-"

"Then she shouldn't do it," Amber said stubbornly. "He just needs to go. He needed to go forever ago nobody else wants him here. I don't even think Mommy wants him here anymore. All she wants is Daddy."

"So I've noticed." James and Mindy were obnoxious to a whole new level there was no way anybody couldn't notice. "Think they'll come out at all tonight?"

Amber snorted. "Them? Please. We have a better chance of Cooper ceasing his self centeredness before THAT one happens."

"Guess that means the babies are with me tonight."

"Looks like."

…

The Staples Center was the venue that was hosting the concert and it had sold out almost as soon as the tickets had gone on sale. Amber with went Mindy and James since she would be joining Mindy on stage during the concert. Mindy and Amber had on matching yellow Juicy Couture sweat suits while James had on a plain blue t-shirt, cargo pants and a pair of tennis shoes. He had tried to put on the brown shoes he wore the most but Mindy had hid them from him because they were "horribly ugly". He had tried to explain to her that they were comfortable and nobody looked at his feet anyway but apparently they did. Someone had actually taken the time to go out and make a blog about his "craptastic" shoes. Why anyone would care about his shoes was beyond him, yet he was Mr. Mindy Stratus. He and the kids were almost as under the microscope as she was yet still…his shoes getting their own blog was ridiculous to him. Taylor had found it and showed it to Mindy, so now she was hiding the shoes "for his own good". Like he cared if lame people sitting in front of their computers made fun of his shoes.

The camera crew was following them around as they went into the arena and Amber and Mindy were both talking to them happily. James however, was more reserved. He wasn't being mean or anything like that but he only responded to the crew if they asked him a direct question. "This feels like we're in a reality show or something," he mused as they approached the stage. The arena was bustling with activity. Mindy's bandmates were up on the stage tuning their instruments and there were people building the elaborate sets that would go up during the show. Two women were pushing a rack of costumes towards the backstage area and someone had reeled in about a dozen drag queens to serve as back-up dancers. Stratusfear shows were elaborate on a normal night but now? Things were going to go completely over the top here.

Mindy giggled and hugged his waist. "Ryan Seacrest says E! still wants to shoot one of those with us."

"Oh god Baby Doll no," James said, putting the kabob on that plan. "No way."

"Why not Jamie? It might be fun…"

"That's OUR house Baby Doll. OUR life. Last thing we need is the entire world spying on us. They do that enough already." He was not looking to change his mind on this issue. Putting his family on TV wasn't good for many reasons. For one, he knew damn well most viewers would tune in to see if Mindy went nuts and would mock her for it if she did, which was NOT something he was going to help contribute to by agreeing to this. Comedians and talk show hosts ripped her apart enough as it was. The kids were all extremely young as well and didn't need to be exploited any more than Mindy did.

"There's a camera NOW," Mindy pointed out.

"This is a bit different Baby Doll," he countered. He plopped down on the nearest chair and pulled her on to his lap. He wrapped both of his arms around her and nuzzled his face against her neck. Amber went over to the band to say hi and not be the awkward third wheel to her parents' love fest. Sure she was used to how they were but sometimes just standing there and watching felt weird. The camera crew didn't seem to give a shit. They caught every moment of it on film, though they couldn't hear the sweet nothings that James was whispering into Mindy's ear. They also didn't realize that this wasn't going to end any time soon. While they were notorious for public displays of affection, not everyone realized just HOW lovey they could be.

"Mommy?" After about twenty minutes of the James and Mindy cuddlefest Amber was finally trying to intervene. Everyone was waiting on Mindy who was in no hurry to get off James. "Mommy we kind of need you."

"Hold on," Mindy said, waving her off. "Gimmie minute."

"We gave you twenty Min," Tim pointed out.

Mindy frowned and clung to James more tightly. James ran his hand through her hair and shook his head, not actually wanting her to have to get up but knowing that there wasn't a choice in the matter. "Baby Doll, you know there's a lot of people counting on you right now," he cooed softly in her ear so nobody else could hear him. "You gotta get up there and rehearse." He rubbed her back softly and gently nudged her with his nose. "I'll be right here watching you okay? I'll be right where you can see me and then we'll go get some Taco Bell when you're done, alright?"

She finally gave him a reluctant nod and even more reluctantly left him to go on to the stage. He moved his chair more towards the center so she could look right at him and be assured that he wasn't going anywhere. Amber sat with him and they watched Mindy together, James blowing her kisses to make her smile and blow them back from up on the stage.

…

After the rehearsals were done James did take Mindy and Amber to Taco Bell like he promised. Amber sat across from them while Mindy sat in his lap, watching him pour like five packets of fire sauce on to just one taco. "Jesus son of a Christ Jamie why don't you just set it on fire instead?" she asked, daintily poking his chest.

"I don't think soft shells are flammable," he replied cheekily. He rolled the taco back up and shoved half of it into his mouth at once, which made Mindy shake her head and look at Amber.

"EVERY time he does this," she said, even though Amber had ate with them plenty of times before and knew what he did. "He just shovels it all in like we're going to take it away from him. He don't chew enough either he's gonna choke to death and then I will have to kick his ass."

James swallowed the mouthful he had and smiled. "See? All chewed up and I'm still alive. Point for Jamie."

"Point for Jamie my ASS!" she denied.

"Mommy doesn't he ever get points?" Amber asked.

"Apparently not," James said. He gave Mindy a quick monkey bite which made her yelp and smack his chest.

"Jamie PAUL!" She shook her head and tried to be mad though that dissolved when he started to giggle. He actually giggled around her it was the cutest thing.

"Whoopsies." He shoveled the other half of his taco into his mouth and hugged her waist while dropping his head on her shoulder like a giant puppy. Mindy pet his face and kissed the top of his head even as she rolled her eyes. "Butthead. Giant pain in my ass."

"I could give you a monkey bite on your ass."

"Don't you DARE!" She tried to squirm out of his grip but he held on more tightly.

"Relax Baby Doll. I wouldn't do that to you. Not here anyway."

"Not anywhere or I will give you a thousand monkey bites for the rest of your life."

"Oooh scary." James kept one arm around her waist and moved his other one so he could start eating his second taco. He had ordered five of them since he could eat like a horse. He tried to open the next packet of hot sauce with his teeth so he wouldn't have to let go of Mindy but ended up fucking up and squirted some right up into his eye. "Fuck!"

"Jamie!" Mindy twisted her torso around, her eyes wide. "Jamie darling what did you DO?"

"Ow ow ow hot sauce in my eye oh fucking Christ!" It burned so badly that James set Mindy down in the chair next to him and dashed into the bathroom so he could rinse his eye out. He got the water on and started to rinse his eye out when he felt someone behind him. He thought it was Mindy and went to turn to her when something hard and heavy struck the back of his head. The blow sent him reeling and he struck the side of his head on the edge of the sink as he fell, helping knock him out before his body hit the floor.


	17. Chapter 17

**cathy:** Thank you! **Ilse'sPurpleSummer:** It's not anyone good, I can assure you that. **jadeMK11:** Hahahaha I don't think it'll do much good in this particular case.

...

"_FINALLY. I thought you were never going to get away from that little bitch. Do you have ANY idea how disgusting the two of you are?"_

_James swallowed hard at the sound of Caroline's voice. He couldn't move to get away from her because for one, he was unconscious thanks to being hit on the back of the head with a hammer courtesy of her and two, she was in his head. She was right in there with him though she hadn't completely hijacked him like she had when she had possessed him. She wanted to. He could feel it but she couldn't for some reason. "I cast you out in the name of Baby Doll," he said quickly, not taking any chances. It worked last time and if that was what she was going for he had to get her out before it could work. There was no Mark anymore to perform an exorcism. "I cast you out in the name of Baby Doll I cast you out I cast you out I-"_

"_Shut up already," Caroline snapped in irritation. "I don't have long you don't have to worry about that."_

"_What the fuck do you want then?" James wanted to wake up already. He could hear the sound of other voices but they sounded muffled and very far away. _

"_What, I can't keep tabs on you boy?" Caroline herself didn't sound quite right. She was right there but her voice didn't have the same strength or authority that it usually had. "SOMEONE has to try to keep your stupid ass in line."_

"_How does hitting me with a hammer keep me in line?"_

"_Well…THAT one was mostly for fun." Caroline snickered though James failed to see what was so funny._

"_Jamie!" Mindy's voice cut through the fog, making James's heart skip a beat in his chest._

"_Oh that little cunt…"_

"_Shut the fuck up Mom," James growled. "Baby Doll!"_

"_She can't hear you dumbass."_

"_Shut UP !" James tried to force himself awake but it wasn't working so well. "Fucking go AWAY. LEAVE me be!"_

"_You think I can do that?" She snorted. "I'll always be here boy. In your head. In the fucking deepest darkest parts of your-_

"JAMES!"

"Miss-"

"He's HURT one of you hurt him!"

"Mommy I don't think-"

"ICE Amber Rose! He needs ICE he's BLEEDING!"

James groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He was still on the floor but his head was cradled in Mindy's lap. Amber had run out to get the ice and the Taco Bell employees were standing nearby, one of which was on the phone. "Fuck," he said under his breath. His head hurt horribly. He could feel blood coming down from above his eyebrow from where he hit the edge of the sink though he was sure that the back of his head was bleeding too. "Baby Doll…"

"Jamie!" Mindy hugged James more tightly against her. "Jamie are you okay? Who hitted you? You're bleeding I think you have a concussion."

"I think you're right." He felt absolutely horrible. He slowly forced himself to sit up and nearly lost consciousness again from being so dizzy. "Ah fuck."

"Here Mommy," Amber said as she dutifully came back with two makeshift icepacks.

"Thank you." Mindy took them and placed one above James's eye and the other on the back of his head, which made him hiss in pain.

"Mr. Lawson" the manager squatted down beside them and tried to ignore the evil look Mindy was giving him. "Your wife followed you in here to find you already out and a hammer dropped on the floor. Do you know who hit you?"

"…No." Even in his possibly concussed state he knew better than to say the ghost of his dead mother did it. Telling just Mindy would be one thing but everyone else would just think it was the head injury talking.

Mindy frowned. "I think you need to go to the hospital."

"The ambulance is on its way Miss Stratus-"

"Lawson!" Mindy corrected nastily.

"I don't need an ambulance." The words came out slurred and he tried to stand up on his own despite the pain and dizziness but nearly passed back out yet again.

"JAMES!" The worried shrillness in Mindy's voice made him stop and lower himself back down, resting his head against her in hopes that the dizziness would stop.

"Mr. Lawson, how many fingers am I holding up?" the manager asked, holding his fingers up to James's face.

"Fucking get away," James said, wildly slapping at the man. "You smell like Mexican."

Amber put a hand over her mouth and tried to hide the laugh that almost came out. His brains were scrambled this wasn't the time to laugh though the look on the fat, middle aged white guy's face was priceless. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She might as well give it a try.

"Two." He took a moment to stare at her fingers but he got it right. Mindy pet his hair and hugged him even more tightly. He needed to get checked out by a doctor even if he didn't want it but Amber knew that's where her mother would step right in. Mindy could talk him into anything, even accepting help he didn't think he needed or wanted. He was stubborn in only wanting HER help if he was indeed going to take any. Maddening in its way but it just was the way he was.

…

James was checked over thoroughly at the hospital and kept under observation for awhile before being released. He was under strict orders to take it easy for awhile and Natalya and Taylor were called in to help keep an eye on him though they had been given the boot for the moment since he and Mindy were in their room. They were just snuggled together in bed, the TV on but they weren't watching it. He had told her about Caroline and Mindy's blue eyes had narrowed and she was shaking her head.

"So what, Senora Psychopath got bored in hell again so she decided to bash your brains in?"

He shrugged. "Apparently." He reached his hand up to itch at the bandage that was above his eye (the cut there required a couple of stitches) but Mindy slapped his hand.

"Jamie! No itchy!"

"It IS itchy that's the problem!" Pouting, James dropped his hand back down and sighed. "I don't even know what the fuck her problem is now. Like what the fuck? I killed you and then you were exorcised the fuck out of me. Why can't you just, you know, peace out already?"

Mindy pet his face with a frown. "Jamie-"

"She fucking always hated me she should rejoice in the fact that she's dead and she can be AWAY."

"You love her though…"

James shook his head and looked Mindy dead in the eye. "I stopped loving her the moment she put her hands on YOU." He was dead serious. Years of the pain and abuse that had been inflicted on him hadn't stopped him from loving the monster he called his mother. The moment she possessed him and hurt Mindy though, that was it. That was all he could think of when he thought of his mother and a true hatred burned inside his stomach for it. He loved Mindy more than anything in the world. More than Mark, more than Annabelle, more than Caroline…his world was Baby Doll and if Caroline even thought she was going to get near her again she was going to have another thing coming.


	18. Chapter 18

**Ilse'sPurpleSummer: **Indeed. I think it's so cute. **cathy**: Thank you! **Vermillion Lynn:** I know. Bitch will tear heads off for her Jamie.

…

"How's he doing?" Natalya asked Taylor as she stepped into Cooper's room. While he hadn't slipped as back far down into his drug use yet (at least that Taylor was aware of), it was still back in his system, which meant that he was craving it and wanting to go out so he could get his hands on it. Taylor had been doing her best to keep her eye on him in between taking care of the kids, trying to help watch over James who was still recovering from his concussion and texting Trevor, who was failing in his attempts to "casually" ask her back out again.

"I feel like shit," Cooper said before Taylor could answer. He was laying under the covers on his bed while she sat in the chair at his desk. They were watching Friday the 13th with a tub of popcorn in between them to share, though Taylor was the one eating most of it. Cooper was claiming that he didn't have an appetite. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. It's annoying."

"You've never been all _here_ Coop," Natalya shot back playfully. That got her a death glare from him. "Relax. I was kidding."

"Not funny." He buried himself further under his covers and tried to keep himself from shivering. He was sweating yet still cold. Fucking withdrawal. It wasn't as bad as last time but this still wasn't pleasant by any means.

"Need another bath?" Taylor asked. If Natalya would keep an eye on him she'd go run the water so he could get in. She didn't actually bathe him (mostly because he wouldn't let her) but she tried to be as helpful as possible. She was fully aware that nobody else thought that she should be doing this and quite frankly, she had a bad feeling that this was going to come back and bite her in the ass. The only reason she was doing this was because she still had feelings for him and if she ended up regretting it then never ever again. She had sworn that to herself already.

Cooper shook his head. He could probably use one but he was too lazy to get up. "I'm fine."

Taylor wasn't quite sure if she believed him but didn't push him on the subject. Instead she looked back to Natalya, who was getting distracted by the movie. "How's Mr. Lawson feeling?"

"Better I think," Natalya replied. "And you have GOT to start calling him James. Calling him Mr. Lawson is just…weird."

"He don't like me though," Taylor pointed out.

"He likes you just fine," Natalya insisted.

Taylor wasn't buying THAT one. James didn't exactly keep it a secret that he had no use for her outside the function of babysitter. The only other thing she had going for her was that she wasn't Cooper. "Has he uh, been having any more ghosts sightings?" Mindy was the one who told her about that whole deal. She of course knew all about Mama Lawson's previous return from Cooper, who couldn't stress enough how lucky she was to have missed it.

Natalya shook her head. "No. We're not counting ourselves too lucky yet though."

"Sheesh, you would think this woman is like Satan herself," Taylor said as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Cooper snorted. "We don't have any proof that she's not." He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I hate Dad these days about as much as he hates me but Caroline is like the last thing we want to deal with."

"So what is he going to do?" Taylor asked.

"Well, I've been trying to look up experts on ghosts that are in the area but all of them come off as phonies," Natalya replied with a sigh. "Though…well there was one that seemed like the real deal but she's an expert on haunted houses. Mommy Dearest here isn't bound to like a house."

"Just Mr. Lawson," Taylor said.

"Exactly. But what I don't get is that she's supposed to hate him. Why would she keep coming after him if she hated him that much?"

"Maybe that's WHY she's doing it," Cooper said with a shrug. "I mean, you would think she would be glad to be away from him but I don't know if she would know what to do if she couldn't make him miserable. And she's the only person he's ever actually feared."

Taylor frowned. "He don't seem that afraid now though. He just looked pissed off about it."

Natalya cocked her head slightly and thought that one over. "Maybe that's a good thing…I mean, she's trying to haunt HIM and maybe we don't need some expert or whatever to make her go away. I mean, Mark's exorcism didn't make her rest in peace. Not permanently anyway. Maybe it has to be James. Maybe he's the one that can put her away for forever."

Cooper snorted loudly. "Well if we're relying on HIM then-"

"Coop, don't even finish the sentence. I'll come over there and throw your withdrawing ass out the window."

Cooper went to say something anyway but then wisely chose to shut his mouth. It was Natalya she really would go through with that threat.

…

James stood in the backyard, a small bonfire going in the pit he and Mindy had set up so when they felt like coming out and making smores. His head still throbbed but he was ignoring that in favor of watching the fire. He had put a bunch of old papers in it and the picture of Caroline he had had for so long. He didn't think it would do much good really but he didn't care. He wanted it gone. He should have gotten rid of it ages ago but he hadn't thought to do it until now. He had forgotten that he had had it still for the longest time. He hadn't even thought about his mother beyond from the stray nightmare here and there. And now she was back to try to ruin his life again. It was completely annoying and he was wondering just what it was going to take to make her go away once and for all. Natalya was supposed to be looking into someone that could help him but until then, he was just a sitting duck.

"Jamie?" Mindy wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, making him smile weakly and hug her back. "What are you doing?"

"Watching the fire," he replied.

"Why?"

"Cuz it's fire." He kissed the top of her head and hugged her more tightly. "I think we should make smores."

"Smores Jamie?" Mindy traced her fingers over his abs and he leaned down to kiss her.

He nodded. "I like smores." He rested his hand on top of her butt and rubbed his nose against hers. He looked pretty tired and Mindy, knowing that he hadn't been sleeping that well in between Caroline on his mind and being woken up all the time due to his concussion, pet his face worriedly.

"You okay Jamie?"

He nodded.

"Are you LYING?" She pet his face more. "Are you worried about Mommy?"

"Worried that she'll try to hurt YOU," James admitted. "And jus annoyed that she feels the need to try to haunt me."

"What if she tries to HURT you again?"

"She can't-"

"She hit you with that hammer just fine," Mindy cut in. "She CAN hurt you Jamie. She can hurt you BAD."

"Baby Doll…" Sighing he hugged her tightly an kissed the top of her head. "I'm gonna find a way to get rid of her. I will."

"How? You do not know what you are doing."

"It can't be THAT hard…I mean, if that hammer shot was the best she could do she's not as tough as she still thinks she is." He pet her hair and kissed her reassuringly. "I'll figure out something, okay? I promise."


	19. Chapter 19

**cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11:** Nothing good really...just his daily bashing of James in some way, shape or form.

...

Cooper shifted around in his seat, trying to ignore everything that was going on around him. Taylor and Natalya were trying to manage the babies while the girls played. Natalya wanted to talk to James to see if they could possibly work out a way to make Caroline peace out once and for all but it was hard to get any time with him. Mindy was all up on him constantly lately and it was literally impossible to get him alone without her. The conversation would have to eventually just have to be had with her as well. At the rate they were going, Mindy was never going to be separated from James again. The clinginess between them was starting to reach all new levels, which was amazing considering the fact that they had been clingy and all over each other to begin with.

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced out the window. Taylor was trying to get him involved in taking care of the kids but it wasn't something he wanted to do. Technically speaking, he wasn't supposed to have anything much to do with the kids. James didn't want him near them or Mindy. With him spending so much alone time with Mindy lately though, it was nearly impossible for him to enforce that rule. Not that Cooper really liked taking care of the kids. He had always taken care of Connor because he had to but he really didn't want anything to do with the kids. The older girls hated him and the babies reminded him too much of James. And that reminded him how unwelcome he was in the house that he was living in. It wasn't an easy feeling to deal with in the very least. Yet he couldn't complain about it. Well, he could technically but nobody would give a shit. They would tell him that he brought it all on himself. And it wasn't like they were wrong. His choice making had been fucked up for a very long time and nobody really had a whole lot of faith in it getting better.

He got up to his feet and went out the backdoor, walking away from the house so he could maybe have some more privacy. That of course, was possibly a futile hope. With so many people in the house there wasn't any privacy ever. James and Mindy had it best because nobody wanted to enter their room, his car or his office. It was known what they did in those places (and all around the house too but nobody wanted to think about that) so everyone avoided them at all costs. For the rest of them though, it was hard to get away from each other. It was a total madhouse and it drove him nuts. Yet still he stayed since he had nowhere to go. James would do everything he could to make sure Mindy wouldn't give him any of her money and even if she still did it, he hated having to take care of himself. He had tried it before but it never ended well. He always fucked it up somehow.

He reached into his pocket to get out his pack of smokes only to find that it was empty. Fuck. He had forgotten that he needed to buy more. For awhile he had tried to cut back on how much he smoked but with him being off the coke again and trying not to drink either, his smoking had picked right back up to compensate. Some would say he had an addictive personality and he couldn't really disagree. Once he got started on something it was impossible to get him off that track. Taylor had tried to talk him into getting professional help but he didn't want it. Fuck that shit. He knew he was fucked up but that didn't mean he wanted to waste his time on something that wouldn't do any good. No way it would happen. Not ever.

…

"Uncle James you CAN'T put this off," Natalya said as she stayed in the kitchen to talk to James while he stayed with Mindy as she made dinner. Mindy looked annoyed but James kept his arms around her waist, kissing her face and neck to soothe her. "You gotta deal with this now before Mommy Dearest decides to do something drastic."

"I can't exactly deal with her if I don't know what to DO," James countered. He kissed Mindy again before looking back at Natalya, who was holding Vanessa in her arms. Vanessa cooed and waved her little fists around, making him melt and lean over to quickly nom on her cheek. "Do you have some sort of master plan that I don't? Because I'm interested in knowing it."

"Honestly?" Natalya shrugged. "I think you need to just call her out and tell her to step the fuck off."

His brow furrowed. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

"It's worth a shot isn't it?"

"Maybe…" He placed his hands over Mindy's pregnant stomach and buried his face into the crook of her neck. Truth was, he hadn't seen or heard from Caroline since the Taco Bell incident. He personally hoping that she had just gone away. Maybe burning her picture had done the trick…probably not but it was wishful thinking. Knowing her, she was probably biding her time and waiting to do something horrible. As a precaution none of the kids were allowed to sleep alone anymore. Vanessa and Aiden were with him and Mindy, Taylor had Amber and the twins, Connor was with Cooper and Elizabeth and Chelsea were with Natalya until she had to go and then he and Taylor would each take one of them. Both she and Natalya had strict orders to keep their eyes on his kids at all times and to sound the alarm if they even thought they saw something suspicious.

He had thought about sending the kids and Mindy away for their own safety but Mindy had thrown a huge fit at the mere suggestion, which scrapped that plan immediately. Mindy for sure wasn't gonna leave his side no matter what. He had tried to talk her out of it for her own safety but she wouldn't hear it. She wouldn't leave him. She was with him on this, whether he liked it or not-and truth be told, it gave him a level of comfort that she was still by his side.

…

Spartacus padded through the halls, nose to the floor as he walked. He had wandered away from Amber and the twins and was looking for James. His tail wagged as he went, happily oblivious to everything around him. He didn't feel the cold presence behind him or hear the floor creek ever so slightly. It wasn't until he felt an unfamiliar pair of hands grab him that he growled and tried to twist back so he could bite. His neck was snapped with a single twist and Caroline laughed as he went limp in her hands.

…

Where are you going Chels?" Taylor asked as she trailed behind the chubby four year old. She had Stickers tucked under one arm and a picture she made for James in the other hand. "I don't think Daddy's this way sweetie."

Chelsea ignored her and kept going. The picture she had drew was of her and James and she had to show it to him right now. There would be no waiting. She wouldn't accept it. Daddy would be shown and she would tell him all about it and why she drew it for as long as he let her. And she was his favorite even if he didn't say it out loud so he would let her go on for forever.

Taylor and Chelsea turned the corner and stopped dead in their tracks. Nailed right to the wall was Spartacus. His neck was twisted at a horrible angle and his stomach was split open, his insides resting on the floor beneath him. Taylor ripped Chelsea back and put her hand over her eyes even though it was too late to keep her from seeing it and screamed so loudly everyone else came running.


	20. Chapter 20

"James..." Mindy pouted her collagen filled lips and hugged James's arm. Taylor was tending to all the kids minus Chelsea inside the house. Amber and the twins were horribly upset over seeing Spartacus nailed to the wall and Elizabeth was crying too, though it was suspected that she was doing it to get attention. Taylor was pretty upset about the whole thing too but she was putting her feelings aside about it. Someone had to take care of the babies. James was pretty well shaken, Mindy was fusssing over him and Cooper was nowhere to be found. That left her to hold down the fort as Mindy and Chelsea stayed outside with James. He had dug a small grave for Spartacus, whose small body was placed in a box that James had found. Mindy had hugged his waist as he had dug and re-filled the hole and now she had a death grip on his arm as he just stood there looking at the grave. Chelesea was at his feet, hugging James's leg and tugging on his pant leg so he would pick her up. He finally just threw the shovel down to the ground and picked her up before wrapping his other arm around Mindy and hugging her tight. "We can get you a new puppy Jamie darling," Mindy said, trying to make him feel better. He looked like he wanted to cry, which always freaked her out. He was her beatufiul perfect darling he shouldn't cry. "We can get you a new puppy we can baby. We can get you a brand new puppy we can go to a breeder we can make a trip out of it." He wasn't saying anything and she couldn't stand it. "James baby talk to me," she pleaded. "TALK to me James I-"

He finally cut her off with a hard kiss to the mouth. He was hugging her as tight and as close to him as he possibly could. She reached up and gripped his hair, deepening the kiss as her other hand went up to pet his face. Chelsea just sat there in James's arm, not even paying attention to what they were doing. She had a bag of marshmallows in her hand that James had given to console her (he was now convinced that she was traumatized for life and was trying to fix the damage accordingly). She really didn't care what was going on. She was the least fazed out of all of them.

"I love you," James said when he and Mindy finally broke apart. He pet her hair and pressed his forehead to hers. His green eyes were locked to her large blue eyes and he kissed her again. "I love you Baby Doll."

"I love you more Jamie." They kissed once again and James led her and Chelsea away from the small grave that he had dug. They went closer to the house but he didn't take them into it. Instead he just plopped down on to the ground and pulled Mindy on to his lap so that he could hug her and Chelsea closely. He kissed both their cheeks and then gave Mindy another long kiss on the lips.

"I don't think another puppy is a good idea right now Baby Doll." He kissed her templed and rested his head in the crook of her neck. "Not until I get this Mom situation taken care of."

Her brow furrowed and she ran her fingers down the slope of his nose. It was a bit crooked from being broken so many times over the years, most of which was from Caroline. "Are you sure it was her?"

"Well unless we're going to blame Cooper then yeah, I'm going to assume it was her." James wouldn't mind blaming Cooper since it would give him an excuse to go after him but in his heart he knew that it was Caroline that had done it. It fit her M.O. perfectly. "She fucking hates dogs I know she fucking did it." He pet her hair and nuzzled her neck. "Did I ever tell you about what she did to the puppy that I found when I was five?"

"She tooked it and broked its neck," Mindy receited promptly. When James was five years old he had been dragged to a rare Christmas Eve with the relatives on Joseph's side of the family. He had gone out to play by himself and found a stray puppy that he immediately claimed as his. When he went to show it off though, Caroline had snatched it right out of his hands and then broke its neck before handing it back to him. It had been traumatizing, to say the least.

"Yeah..." James swallowed hard and hugged her and Chelsea more tightly. "Baby Doll I think you and the kids need to-"

"No." Mindy didn't even let him finish.

"Baby Doll please-"

"No."

"Baby Doll it would be safer if you-"

"NO I'm NOT leaving you!" She slapped her palm into his chest before hugging his neck tightly. "I'm not leaving Jamie I'm not. She wants to win Jamie she does. She wants you all alone to kill you Jamie she does. You know she does don't let her kill you Jamie don't-"

"Baby baby baby ssssssshhhhh..." James kissed her all over her face before getting to her mouth to silence her. "Baby Doll..." He kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her mouth and making out with her for several minutes. "Baby Doll I NEED to take care of this. I want you to be SAFE Baby Doll I need you to be SAFE."

"I'll be safe with YOU." Mindy wasn't budging on this. She didn't want to go anywhere without him. She was clinging to him like a spider monkey and to honor the vow they made in the hospital in Texas he stopped trying to fight with her. If he absolutely had to he would drug her long enough to get her and the kids out if need be. It angered him that he even had to THINK about that kind of plan though. It really did. This was his family, his life, his house and this wasn't her business to stick her nose in. She was dead. She had been dead for years. He had killed her himself, though he had carried the baggage that come from her for years and years. She had dominated his life so badly and it made him angry with himself that he had allowed her to do so. He hated her. He hated her the moment she hurt Mindy while possessing him. The mother he had once strived to have any kind of love and affection from was now just a bitch he wanted to get out of his life once and for all. He didn't care where she went. It could be hell or she could haunt some other people he didn't give a flying fuck. He just wanted her out of his and his family's life for good.

"Daddy!" Chelsea suddenly shoved a marshmallow into his "EAT MARSHMALLOW!"

"Umph…" James about choked on it but managed to keep himself from spitting it back out. He chewed it and swallowed it before smiling at her. "Thank you Princess."

Chelsea smiled and looked at Mindy. "Daddy eat marshmallow!"

Mindy just tightened her grip on James's neck and he gave her a big kiss before tightening his grip on her and Chelsea so he could take them back into the house. He had no idea if Caroline was still lurking around watching him and he honestly didn't care. Let her watch. Despite the hammer and what happened to Spartacus, this felt...tame for her. The damage last time around had been a lot bi orgger a lot quicker, which signaled to him that she couldn't do half of what she wanted to do. The hammer incident at Taco Bell reeked of desperation in retrospect and as horrible as the Spartacus thing was (he was a complete sucker for animals so this was pretty horrible for him), it reeked of a scare tactic. She wanted his attention and wanted him rattled. He was refusing to give in though. Fuck that. Fuck her. He was done. He was fucking done.

...

To try to bring on some sense of normalcy for the kids, James ordered in pizza and then had them all go into the living room to watch some movies. He hadn't touched much of his own food despite Mindy's best attempts to feed him and even now, with her on his lap as they both lounged on the couch with Chelsea, Thorn and Scarlett, she was taking some of Chelsea's popcorn and trying to feed it to him. "Baby Doll I'm not hungry," he tried to tell her yet again.

"You're always hungry," she insisted stubbornly. "You NEED to eat you're going to STARVE." She put the popcorn up to his lips again and to appease her he ate it. Once he chewed and swallowed it he looked around the room at the others. Taylor was on the other couch with Aiden in her lap and Amber and Elizabeth sitting with her while Natalya sat on the chair with Vanessa and Connor was on the floor with Snoopy, Spike and Oxa. They had all been watching him through dinner and he had kept a rather stony expression throughout the whole thing. Nobody had really tried to talk about what had happened. What could even be said? What they all saw spoke for itself. In his opinion, the sooner they forgot about it, the better.

About halfway through the movie they heard the front door open with a bang. Snoopy howled and got up to his feet, running out of the room as fast as he could. "I'll get it!" Connor yelled, jumping up to his feet and taking off after his dog.

"Connor-" James tried to intervene.

"Grandma if that's you don't you kill my puppy!"

Amber rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, because THAT will stop her."

James just shook his head and started to get up so he could see what was going on.

"COOPY!"

James groaned and just stopped in his tracks. He was actually more in the mood to deal with Caroline than he was with Cooper at the moment. He could tell by the pitch of Connor's yell that something wasn't quite right with Cooper, which meant more bullshit that he just didn't want to deal with. He had no patience for it when it came from Cooper anymore and he was even less in the mood than usual given what had happened earlier.

"Jamie..." Mindy could tell that James was about to snap so she strategically wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting one hand on her lower back and the other up in her hair. He gripped it tightly and slid his tongue into her mouth, trying to surpress a moan as he savored her the kiss as much as he could. He was lost in the kiss until there was a loud thud, the sound of glass breaking and Cooper cursing up a storm.

"Ah fucking Christ." James reluctantly moved Mindy off his lap so he could get up to see what was going on. Mindy grabbed his hand to try to make him stay but he just pulled her along with him. Taylor, Amber and Natalya all exchanged looks before deciding to get up and follow as well. They found Cooper kicking Snoopy away from a bunch of broken glass as Connor came running with a broom, a dustpan and a a towel to wipe up the vodka, which had been in the bottle that had gotten broken. "Oh Jesus Christ," James said in irritation. He wrapped his arm around Mindy and looked at Cooper in disgust. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing," Cooper grumbled. He was drunk. His eyes were all glassy and he reeked of vodka just as much as much as their floor now did. "I'm fine." He kicked Snoopy away and took the broom and dustpan from Connor and tried to sweep up his mess, only to almost fall over on his ass. Natalya pinched the bridge of her nose, Amber rolled her eyes and Taylor gave Cooper a look of extreme disappointment. This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. There was no need for him to be trashed like this. What the hell did he want? Attention? He was getting it but it was about to turn into James's huge foot being shoved so far up his ass that it would knock his teeth out of his mouth.

"I think you should lay down Cooper," Mindy said, taking a step forward to try to go to Cooper. She knew James was gonna knock his block off and was trying to prevent it. She did love Cooper and didn't want him to get hurt. She couldn't stop James though once he decided to go at him physically. She was pregnant so she couldn't do shit.

"Or better yet just _leave_." James snatched the broom and dustpan from Cooper's hands while Natalya took the towel from Connor. "Fucking just leave and don't come back."

"James..." Mindy said with a shake of her head.

"Baby Doll LOOK at him!" James jerked his head at Cooper, who was leaning against the wall to keep himself up on his own two feet. "Taking care of him is not in our job description. He's NOT our baby and he DON'T want to actually stop this kind of crap. He wants to snare YOU into his fucking rapist fucking hands again and I'm not having it. I'm not." He pointed the end of the broom into Cooper's chest. "I don't care where you go. Just get out of my sight this INSTANT, you hear me?"

"Come on..." To prevent blood from being shed Taylor stepped away from Amber and dragged Cooper out of the room. She put his arm around her shoulder and her arm around his waist as she awardly manuvered him up the stairs. It wasn't easy going at all but she got him up there and into his room. She let him drop into his bed and was about to turn around to leave when she saw something sticking out of his pocket out of the corner of her eye. She turned back and took it out of his pocket (he had passed out the moment he hit his bed) and saw that it was a small baggie of cocaine. She stared at it for the longest time before looking at Cooper in exasperation and disgust. She thought she reached a turning point with him...apparently not.

"Taylor?" Amber called out. She had come upstairs to check on her big sister. "You coming?"

"Yeah." Taylor put the drugs in her pocket so she could make a stop to the bathroom to flush them on the way back downstairs. She would get rid of them to prevent James from blowing a gasket since he was pretty much already there but after that she was done. She was fucking done with Cooper and his bullshit.


	21. Chapter 21

**Cathy, Ilse'sPurple Summer, jadeMK11 and DragonBby:** Thank you all and I agree with all of you. Enough is enough when it comes to Cooper.

...

James made love to Mindy that night as hard and as many times as he could until he wore her down and got her to fall asleep. As much as he appreciated her not wanting to leave him, there was no way he was going to let her face off with Caroline. Not if he could help it. He didn't want anything happening to her or his unborn child and honestly, this was something he needed to do alone. Mindy's love and support gave him a spine that he had lacked as a kid and just knowing that she would be there waiting for him once he was done made him all the more eager to just get it over with already. He gave her one last kiss before carefully getting out of bed. He moved the covers up more over her so she wouldn't get cold and then checked on Vanessa to make sure she was still asleep in her bassinet. Taylor and Natalya were keeping the rest of the kids together and to try to take the load off of them, he had taken Vanessa with him and Mindy. Aiden and Elizabeth were more likely to wake Mindy up and he didn't want that. Not tonight.

He slipped on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants before creeping downstairs, practically feeling his way down since everyone else was in bed and all the lights were off. He got himself to the staircase and gripped the railing as he went down, trying his hardest not to fall and break his neck. Once he was downstairs he made his way into his office. He flipped the light on as he went in and closed and locked the door behind him. His skin crawled as a chill went through him and he shook his head. "Don't even fuck with me Caroline. Just come on out."

"Well look at you..." Caroline's voice drawled out as she appeared before him. She had her hands behind her back which meant that she most likely was holding something. He didn't find himself particularly caring what it was. He just glared at her as she chuckled dryly at him. "Someone's feeling brave."

"Was killing the puppy actually necessary?" he asked.

"It was ALIVE wasn't it?" she laughed coldly though he was far from amused.

"Is this really how you have to get your rocks off these days? Because I gotta say, it's kind of pathetic."

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Pathetic huh?"

"Oh yeah."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black boy."

"Oh but I've clearly learned from the best." He stepped up to Caroline, getting right into her face and taking her by surprise. He had never really done that back when she was alive. She had completely intimidated him when he was growing up. He had let her run right over him quite frankly. He had been a kid all he had known was her terrifying law. Now though, he almost found himself wishing she was alive just so he could actually knock her in the face. "I mean, haunting someone whom you've claimed to hate with every fiber of your being?" He snorted and laughed in disbelief. "That's not just pathetic, that's just stupid."

Caroline scowled. "Excuse me?"

"Oh you heard me." What was she gonna do? Hit him with another hammer? If she was going to she would have done it already. That was the way she always had been: hit first and then ask the questions. "My whole life all you ever did was yell about how much you hated me and wished I wasn't born. Yet did you ever actually try to kill me beyond the original attempt with the wire hanger? Hmmm? Why didn't you try it? Why didn't you just throw me out instead of dealing with me if I was such a burden? Or better yet, why have you kept coming back despite being DEAD?"

"YOU don't let me rest, " Caroline snapped.

"BULLSHIT!" He slapped a palm down on to the back of his chair which was right by him and shook his head. "You fucking came back and terrorized me and my family because Baby Doll told me to FORGIVE you and put you behind me. And now you're back because….what? I'm not dwelling over you? I don't need you?" He pointed his finger at her and got even more in her face. "I'm fucking done with this shit."

"Oh look at you Mr. fucking tough guy now-"

"And were YOU so tough beating me up when I couldn't DEFEND myself?" he shot right back. "No. You weren't. I used to think you were fucking terrifying but you're nothing but a bully who spouts the same bullshit over and over and over again and it's an act you can take somewhere else. I don't care if it's hell or if you go fuck with some other family. I don't even care. Just fucking stay away from me and my family."

"You're REALLY going to talk to your mother like that boy?"

"I never had a mother," he replied. "Nothing you did besides give birth to me qualified you to be a mother. And guess what? That's fine. I never needed you like I thought I did. What I need is right here in this house."

"Oh right, your precious Baby Doll." Caroline laughed, her form fading more and more by the second. "The woman you'd sell your kids down the river for-"

"I don't recall ASKING for your opinion," he snapped. "My wife and my kids are NONE of your concern. They're not targets for you to spew your fucking shit at. That's the real reason you kept me around wasn't it? You're nothing it you have nobody to terrorize." He leaned forward so his face was barely an inch from hers. "I don't feel like playing that game anymore Caroline. I don't. I'm done. Now get out of my FUCKING house."

Caroline's eyes narrowed and they both just stared at each other. Caroline was fading right before his eyes. Whether she wanted to or not, she was fading away. She growled and took her hands from behind her back, going for his throat with a wire hanger that he hadn't known that she had. He snatched it right out of her hand rather easily and without even thinking he dragged it across his own throat for her. It could be seen as an act of defiance he supposed; showing her he wasn't scared and that trick wasn't going to work. It just felt kind of dumb though once the pain set in and the blood started to flow. It worked though. Caroline disappeared without so much as a whimper and he threw the wire down and pressed his hand over his bleeding throat as he immediately went to the bathroom so he could clean himself up. If Mindy saw what he did she was going to raise an absolute fit.


	22. Chapter 22

"Jamie?" Mindy sat up in bed, holding over naked body and looking around for James. She had woken up on the side of the bed he usually slep on, her face buried in his pillow. "Jamie?" Frowning she clutched the sheets more tightly, jumping slightly as the door opened and James came back into the room. "Jamie!" She stretched her arms for him to come back to her and he did, kissing her happily. Her fingers pet his throat and she immediately frowned, noticing the bandage that was on his neck. "Jamie?" She stopped kissing him and ran her fingers over the bandage again. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he immediately denied. He grabbed her hand to get it off his neck and kissed her fingers. "I'm fine."

"Then why do you have a bandage on your neck?" she asked. She wasn't buying his attempt to convince her. He wouldn't have the damn thing on his neck if he was okay. It was a big old bandage with gauze underneath it-he had hurt himself doing something and was doing a shitty job at hiding it.

"I uh...okay, I had a little accident but it's FINE Baby Doll." He tried to kiss her again and she let him, letting him think he had her distracted before pulling the bandage off herself and seeing a nasty looking gash that was right where the original wire hanger scar was.

"JAMIE!"

James cringed and put his hand over it, noticing that he was still actually bleeding. He had thought he had gotten that to stop but he had apparently started up again. Shit. "Baby Doll it's not that big of a deal. It's really not..." His objections were falling on to deaf ears. She was already dragging him towards their private bathroom, sitting him down and grabbing the first aid kit in there in case she ever hurt herself during a schizo episode.

"You didn't even put anything on it did you?" She took a rag and started dabbing away the blood while shaking her head. "You NEVER take care of yourself right Jamie it's gonna scar AGAIN."

"I didn't think it got THAT deep..." he said sheepishly. He tilted his head back so his neck was more exposed.

"What did you even DO to yourself?" She dabbed more of the blood off before kissing it and grabbing the stuff to clean it. He was already wincing because he knew this was going to sting like a bitch.

"Well uh...Mom tried to recreat the wire hanger scene to fuck with me so I took it to myself and then she went away because she realized I'm not putting up with her bullshit."

Mindy gave him quite the odd look for that explanation. "You slitted your own THROAT just for THAT?"

"...Yeah?"

"James!"

"I had to do SOMETHING!"

"So you hurted yourself? Real smart James! Real smart!" She placed a bunch of kisses all over the gash before cleaning it and rebandaging it for him. "I'll be sure to call you when I need a bright idea you jerk."

"I thought it was the symbolism that counted..." he said with a pout. "You know, it started with the hanger and ended with the hanger..."

"Mom is a fucking ugly hoser bitch that is not worth stupid sym-bol-ism." She actually said that one word like it was three separate ones and he pulled her in for a kiss because he thought it was so cute.

"She's a fucking ugly hoser bitch that we shouldn't have to worry about anymore." He kissed her again, his eyes drifting down and fully realizing just how naked she still was. "And now I've got YOU all to myself again."

She smirked and ran her finger down the slope of his nose. He pet her hair with one hand before pulling her on to his lap and kissing her yet again, sliding his tongue into her mouth as her lips parted. They made out for awhile, his body growing hot from having her all nice and naked and all over him. Her fingers threaded through his hair, tugging on it slightly as he ran his hands up and down her body. He had been wanting to run the idea of replacing Spartacus with another puppy by her though that of course was the furthest thing from his mind now. All he could focus on now was kissing her and arching his hips up as she grinded her groin against his. They humped dry just like that until his cock was absolutely aching to get free. "Oh Baby Doll..." He picked her up and carried her back to bed, unzipping his jeans so his cock wasn't completely straining against them. He set her down on the bed and crawled on top of her, settling himself between her legs and resuming the kissing and dry humping. She pulled at his shirt until he raised his arms and let her take it off before he dropped his head to start kissing along her neck and collarbone. She pushed his pants down and he wiggled out of them, managing to kick them off the bed without breaking lip contact once.

"You getting nice and wet for me Baby Doll?" he asked between kisses. "Huh?" He rolled his hips extra slow, moaning as he felt her wetness start to soak through the material of his boxers. He immediately slid a hand between her legs, sliding two long fingers inside of her.

"Jamie!" She started riding his fingers and he watched her go, admiring how slick and shiny they were getting her juices. His other hand was working on getting rid of his boxers and he tossed them all the way over by the door. Definitely a good excuse later for not getting back out of bed. He stroked his cock a couple of times, moaning as she rode his fingers faster.

"Oh Christ Baby Doll…" He kissed his way down her body, eventually settling his head between her legs to kiss her clit. Her legs went up over his shoulder and he replaced his fingers with his tongue, licking her as deep as he could while he rubbed his cock with his wet fingers. A rush of juices met his mouth and he licked her clean eagerly before kissing his way back up her body. He rubbed the head of his cock against her pussy until he got to her lips and then he thrusted into her. Neither one of them even tried to muffle the sounds of their moans and both were unaware of who was standing outside their door, listening in for a moment before shaking his head and walking away in disgust.

…

"Fucking Christ…" Cooper shook his head as he walked away from James and Mindy's door and headed down the stairs. He had woken up in his own bed with somewhat fuzzy memories about how he had gotten there. He remembered getting smashed and buying himself some drugs…shit, where the fuck were they? He checked his pockets and didn't find them. Fuck. That wasn't good. It couldn't have been James that found them or he would be dead so it had to be someone that was smart enough to cover for him: Mindy or Taylor, though now he remembered that Taylor was the one that had helped him to his room. Oh thank Christ.

He went into the kitchen to find that Taylor was already there, pouring herself a glass of water to drink. "Hey."

She barely so much as glanced back at him which made him frown. She had been a lot more friendly than THAT lately. "The lovefest wake you up too?"

"I was thirsty," she replied curtly. She took a drink of her water and gave him the stink eye. "Did the lovefest actually wake you up or were you listening in like a total creep again?"

Cooper blinked, taken aback by not only what she said but the completely bitchy way she said it. "What's with you?"

"What's with me?" Taylor put the glass down on the counter and turned to face Cooper, her hands going on her slender hips. "You really want to know what's wrong?" She stepped forward and poked his chest. "You're an idiot. That's what's wrong." She laughed bitterly. "You know, I honestly thought you were changing this time. I really did. I don't know WHY I thought it with your lovely history but I really really did think it. I thought maybe you were sick of this bullshit self destructive road."

"I'm not trying to be self destructive," he argued. "I'm just-"

"Just what? So fucking miserable? Well you know what Cooper? Grow the fuck up. Deal with it like a fucking man. Stop blaming EVERYONE else for your situation and start accepting responsibility for yourself. Because quite frankly, I'm done saving your ass."

"If you were so done why would get rid of the drugs I had?" he asked. "You could have let me fry for that."

"Maybe I should have," she admitted. "Maybe I should have but I thought Mr. Lawson slaughtering you for bringing that shit here wouldn't go over well with Mom-"

"So you did it to spare Mom huh? It has nothing to do with your feelings for me." That last bit was said very sarcastically and made her eyes narrow angrily.

"Honestly Cooper? I'm done. I can't do this anymore." She pushed him away with one hand. "I really can't. Fuck you. Just fuck you." She stormed out of the room, totally leaving her glass of water behind. Cooper stared at it for a moment, shaking his head before taking it and throwing it against the wall in irritation, nodding in satisfaction until he realized he was going to have to clean that up. "Oh fuck me..."

...

Thousands of screaming fans packed the arena the night of the big Stratusfear concert. The shows were always packed of course but given the fact that tonight was the filming of Mindy's 3D concert, the tickets had sold out even faster than usual. Multiple cameras were set up so she could just do the concert straight through. Security was tight to keep fans back from the stage an keep the press out, since they were dying to get photos and video of the concert. The stage was set up with a twisted tree set, which branches were sticking out and were supposed to come off as coming at the audience when it hit theaters. Ravens flew overhead, almost all resting on the trees and one sitting on the grand piano that was set front and center. There was a full orchestra in the background along with a full choir and when needed dancing trannies with costumes so elaborate James did about a triple take when he saw them. The band ahead of all of them and of course, front and center, was Mindy, Miss Stratusfear herself. She had on a black and red ball gown many ruffles on the bottom and a corset to it that untied to protect baby Georgia. She was sitting on her piano, wrapping up a slower song that she had written to James…and one that wasn't exactly a HAPPY song.

_I was looking to the sky_

_When I knew I'd be swimming home_

_And I cannot betray my kind_

_They are here_

_It's my time_

_I'm sorry_

_Nothing can hold me_

_I adore you still_

_If I hear them calling (calling)_

_And nothing can hold me_

James bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck as the audience applauded and cheered. He was waiting in the wings like always, ready to be on hand in case Mindy suffered a schizo episode onstage. Her manager actually wanted to double up on her medicine beforehand but he had absolutely refused to allow it and nearly fired the woman for the suggestion.

The lights went out for a few seconds and when they came back on, Mindy was standing up, a microphone in her hand. The music kicked in for the next song and spotlights from the back of the stage came on, shining a more blueish color and actually flashed along to the music.

"_Make me whole again. Open your eyes. Taunted by the shadows of your lies_." This was one that James wrote-the final one of that he had penned on the album. "_Cold and far away, like you're not even mine. Undo everything and take me high_." Mindy held that note and started swaying to the music. "_Never believing what they what they say cause I'm…_" She raised her arm in the air and pumped up her fist. "_Counting days to meet you on the other side. I will always be waiting. On the day that I see you on the other side. Come and take me home_" She moved closer to the edge of the stage though she didn't go TOO close to the end. She never did. Even though security kept people further back than what was normal for concerts she thought the crowd would pull her in and kill her. "_I'm not giving in; I want you back. Holding together by the shards of our past. Stole my heart away, I can't let you go. Break these chains and let me fly to your high above the world below. Over and over in my mind…_" She moved back towards the center and banged her head, her straightened raven hair flying everywhere. "_Counting days to meet you on the other side. I will always be waiting. On the day that I see you on the other side. Come and take me home_."

"I think you wrote this one FOR Mommy's voice," Amber observed. She came up from behind and stood next to James, just watching Mindy go. Mindy was back to her piano and playing along with the band as someone snuck in and attached a harness to her. James frowned at that one. He hadn't been told about THAT plan.

"_I am so lost without my place inside your heart. I want so bad I need to know you hear me. All I can release my love._" The rest of the music cut off so all that was heard was her piano and her voice. "_Counting days to meet you on the other side._ _I will always be…_" the music started to kick back in "_waiting…_" The band kicked back in full force and Mindy stepped away from the piano, microphone in hand and the audience roared as she was lifted up off the ground. James winced on instinct; the overprotective mode he got in when she was pregnant allowed him to perfectly visualize the harness breaking and her falling back on stage. "_On the day that I see you on the other side. Come and take me-counting days to meet you on the other side. I will always be waiting. On the day that I see you on the other side. Come and take me home._" She had a ball going crazy with the last note and she was lowered back to the stage right as the music cut off, the audience going absolutely crazy. Mindy however, glanced off stage to where James was and on impulse he grabbed a bottle of water to give her and went out on stage, swooping her and giving her a big kiss.


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank you everyone who read and reviewed :))) With this story in the bag, I've got another one planned, which will be my take on the movie The Strangers, with the ever lovely Jamie Doll (total credit to Vermi who brought the idea up originally months ago) and it should be up within the next few days if I have it my way.**

**...**

"I love how we always somehow end up in this exact same spot," James observed has he stretched back in his seat as much as he could. He and Mindy were in their usual parking spot eating Chinese. Mindy was straddling his lap, his cock still buried in her from them having a quickie before eating. "If I didn't know better I'd say we were predictable."

Mindy held up a chopstick full of orange chicken and fed it to him. "When we tried to move we got busted by a coppa, remember?"

He snorted. He did indeed remember. The one time they tired to park in a different spot for their usual dates a cop had come banging on the window, thinking they were a couple of horny teenagers. "We were lucky he didn't see the open booze in the car."

"Well he kind of gotted distracted by you getting out of the car all naked and growley." James, somewhat drunk during that incident, had gotten out of the car and had simply growled at the cop to go away. That almost didn't go too well but Mindy sweet talked their way out of trouble.

"I always thought that was a good rule of thumb," James said as he fed Mindy some food out of his carton. "I mean, who wants to deal with an angry naked man?"

"I like you angry and naked," Mindy stated and James just smirked and kissed her.

"Well you might but most people don't. I ran through a police station naked and screaming like a madman once and NOBODY came near my ass. I should have been like tasered and thrown under the jail."

"Maybe they were just distracted by how big it is."

James' eyebrows went up. "I don't have a big butt."

"Do TOO!" Mindy insisted. "Do too do too do too! You have a bubble butt Jamie.""

"A bubble butt you say?" He smirked and tapped her nose lightly. "So is that why I suddenly went to 'Dat Ass' in your phone?"

"Duuuuuhhhhh!"

"If we're gonna be complimenting our assets via phone I should change you to 'Dose Tits' in my contacts."

"You better appreciate them. They cost a ton."

"I think I've shown my appreciation already..." He pulled down her dress a bit and kissed one of the many hickeys he had given her all over her chest. He kissed her throat next and then her lips, the two of them making out for a bit before going back to feeding each other. They had to at least try to eat before everything went cold. "I think I could live on this stuff," James said with a nod.

"You could live on anything," Mindy countered.

"Except brussel sprouts. Those and coffee."

"You drink it all the time. For someone that hates it you seem to like it an awful lot."

"Yeah well energy drinks are god awful...plus the whole rumor that they were made with something that came from a bull's balls just turned me off from them."

Mindy's eyes bugged. "WHAT?"

"Well since the drinks have taurine in them, people started saying that it came from bull testicles since they have that acid in there...it can be found in other animals though and the kind in energy drinks is like synthetic. Still though, I play it safe. No bull balls for me."

Mindy wrinkled her nose. "I HOPE not. You were gay once already you do not need to be gay and into animals now."

James snorted. "You want to know what is true though?"

"What?"

"Remember when we went to Starbucks and I wouldn't let you get a Strawberry Frappuccino?"

"Mhm."

"They use bugs to dye it pink."

Mindy's eyes got even bigger. "No WAY."

"Way. I wouldn't make this stuff up."

Mindy made a disgusted face and put a hand over her mouth. "Ewwwwwwwwwwww James!"

"What? I didn't put the bugs in it!" He kissed her forehead. "The vegans found out about it and raised hell. They had to replace it with something more normal."

"Jamie why are the things you know so gross?"

"Someone here has to be the keeper of all the grossness." He kissed her and snagged one of the fortune cookies they had. "Leeeet's see what the China Men say this time..."

"Mine first." Mindy batted his away and gave him hers instead.

"Bossy bossy." James barely kept up his tsking for a second before ripping open the package and breaking the cookie open so he could retrieve the fortune. "Leeeeet's see..."

"What's it say?" Mindy asked, trying to peer at the fortune even though she couldn't actually read it.

"I've fallen and I can't get up."

"It does NOT Jamie Paul!" Mindy whacked James on the chest as he laughed. "What does it REALLY say?"

"Help I'm being attacked by Oompa Loompas. Oh look Baby Doll, Snooki's people are attacking Chinamen."

"Jamie Paul my beautiful wonderful fortune does NOT say anything like that."

"You're right. It really says you will kiss a beautiful darling angel face that makes Mexican babies."

"THAT one is okay." Mindy kissed him and tugged on his hair gently. "Georgia says you are a butthead though."

"Am I now?" He put his hand over her stomach, smiling as he felt their unborn baby kick appropriately. He kissed Mindy again, his arms locked around her and one of his hands petting her hair. "You wanna stay in the car all night Baby Doll or you wanna get a hotel?"

"I want you to read YOUR fortune now," was Mindy's answer. She didn't really care whether they were in the car or a hotel room. The car was more intimate but in the hotel they could do a lot more stuff. Both worked just fine for her.

James opened his cookie and stuck a piece in his mouth as he looked over his forturne. "A blowjob is in your future."

Mindy smirked. "One is ALWAYS in your future." Her fingers ran down his throat, petting over the wire hanger cut that was still healing. "I remember your very first one."

"I would hope so since YOU gave it," James replied, his cheeks starting to get red. He really never had a blowjob before her. It wasn't something anyone would have believed but she did-mostly because he didn't last at ALL when she did it the first time. Just thinking about that made his entire face go red and even with the lack of lights in the entire area Mindy could see it. "I remember the first time I ate you out." He wanted to get the conversation off that embarrassing moment as fast as possible. "Sweetest thing I ever tasted." He kissed her once again, slowly thrusting his hips up to make her moan. What food they had left was being totally forgotten. They would have to get a hotel room in a bit because there were things they wanted to do to each other that required more room but another round or two of car sex sounded more than good right now.

...

"Jamie?"

"Hmm?" James and Mindy were in the bathtub, soaking in a bubble bath the next morning. They had gotten themselves a hotel room and fucked all night, finally passing out at about four in the morning and only waking up so James could give Mindy her medication. They had fallen back asleep for a bit after that and now were enjoying their bath. She was straddling his lap, riding him slowly as his hands explored her wet, sudsey body.

"Can we not go home?"

That question made James stop and frown slightly. She had asked the exact same thing back when they were in Aruba. "Not go home yet or not go home ever?"

The lack of clarification and the way her arms tightened around his neck answered the question for him. He immediately smoothed down her hair and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes locked on hers. "We'll have another little vacation," he promised. "Just the two of us. We could get ourselves a nice little house in the country or something and it'll be just us. Okay Baby Doll?"

Sniffling she nodded and started to ride him once more though if she had her way, they weren't going to be coming back from that "vacation".

...

Cooper laid sprawled out on his bed, watching TV alone since he was pretty much avoiding the rest of the house ever since his little confrontation with Taylor. She was civil to him when need be but she didn't even go near him unless there was no other choice in the matter. Most of her time was going to the kids, though now Mindy had helped her start a band so that they could perform together at concerts. Natalya was continuing to go in and out of the house, though she was overseas at the moment so she wasn't there. She didn't really approach him even more anyway. She was tired of him too. The kids of course didn't have any use for him and James and Mindy...well they were being their usual selves. They were all over each other like crazy. It was so totally obnoxious. They were apparently planning some getaway together though James was having to take care of her since she was starting to really feel her usual pregnancy sickness. Cooper was guessing the trip would happen post baby and they would come back pregnant yet again. It was just the way they worked.

Getting bored, Cooper turned off his TV and put on a hoodie so he could go take a walk. As he was leaving his room, he about ran into Kelly, Taylor and Natalya, who were going towards the stairs so they could leave to hang out with Taylor's bandmates. Kelly and Taylor were linked arm in arm while Natalya trailed slightly behind them. Kelly and Natalya both shot him the stink eye while Taylor barely gave him a second glance. Admittedly, she looked gorgeous tonight...her platinum blonde hair was straightened and she hadn't gone crazy with her eye makeup, which was good. He couldn't say it out loud because Mindy would kill him but he thought she looked like a raccoon when she did it.

Shaking his head, he pulled his hood over his head and waited for them to go before venturing downstairs himself. He about went into the kitchen but of course found James and Mindy in there already. They weren't having sex for once (though that probably wouldn't last for too long). They were at the table, Mindy cuddled on James's lap as they flipped through a magazine. They were talking lowly, Mindy giggling and James kissing her neck and nuzzling his face against her. Cooper opened his mouth to say something to try to break the mood when he realized that they were flipping through Cosmo...yeah, that wasn't shit he wanted part of. They were probably taking some quiz and being gross. Without being seen, he turned on his heels and walked away. As much as he loved Mindy, he wouldn't actually mind if she and James went away again...maybe it would snap them out of this ever obsessive funk they were in.

...

The red carpet premiere for Mindy's big movie was a whirlwind of activitiy. All her rockstar friends showed up along with hundreds of screaming fans and all the press that could fit in there. The stars of the entire thing though, were Mindy and James themselves. James stepped out of the limo first, wearing a dark blue Dolce & Gabbanna wool suit with a lighter blue tie and a white button up shirt underneath. His hair was slicked back out of the way and his face was clean shaven (it always was actually though he had done another quick shave before they left to get rid of any five o'clock shadow). He helped Mindy out of the car, absolutely beaming at how gorgeous she was. She had on a green, one shoulder Oscar de la Renta chifon gown that was floor length and split in the back. Her hair was styled very wavy since the mermaid look was in at the moment and dewy makeup that jus accentuated how much her face was already glowing. All her jewelry was gold as were her shoes and the clutch she was holding. All eyes were on her and she waved to the cameras before grabbing James' hand and pulling him down for a kiss. He was in a suit…him in a suit was a surefire way to make her horny. Add in him loving her how her tits were popping out of her dress and the people around them were going to be lucky if they didn't start going at it full force right there on the red carpet.

"Who to first Baby Doll?" James asked as they posed for photos. His arm was wrapped around her tightly and he would nuzzle and kiss her neck. He knew the cameras didn't give two shits about him…he was always treated like her accessory despite being her husband. So, to combat that, he was alllll over her even more tonight.

"Ummm..." Mindy up and down the line of press, where they were all just begging for an interview. Every magazine, every entertainment network...they all wanted a piece of the Mindy Stratus pie. "Ooooh there's Joan!" Mindy gave James a quick kiss and led him over to Joan Rivers, which actually surprised James mostly because he didn't think she did red carpets anymore. He always ended up seeing Kelly Osbourne and Giuliana Rancic at these kinds of things, though Joan did love Mindy…and him surprisingly. He glanced up ahead to see who else there would be to talk to. Ryan Seacrest would be next, then MTV though he wasn't horribly crazy about them…maybe they could skip Joey Fatone since nobody cared about him or the TV Guide channel.

"Oh my GOD look at you two!" Joan almost looked at a loss for words, which made James smirk. "You two look AMAZING!" She grabbed one of Mindy's hands and admired the dress. "Who are you wearing my dear?"

"Oscar de la Renta," Mindy answered happily.

"Oscar de la Renta…this looks absolutely amazing on you my dear. Your hair, your makeup your jewelry-who'd you get it from?"

"My Jamie," Mindy replied, hugging him and (unbeknownst to Joan) gave his ass a quick squeeze. He tried not to visibly react to that and chimed in with who he got it from.

"Tiffany's." He had to duck down kind of awkwardly to get to the microphone which prompted Joan to try to raise it up and nearly got him in the mouth with it. "And some Harry Winston too."

"You really know how to pick them don't you?"

"I know what she likes." James gave Mindy a quick kiss, his entire face just beaming as he looked at her.

"Now who are you wearing?" Joan asked, trying to interrupt the lovefest before it got too crazy.

"Dolce and Gabbanna."

"Dolce and Gabbanna…" Joan nodded her approval before looking to Mindy. "You HAVE to get him in a suit more often Mindy."

"Oh I know…" Mindy looked like she was more ready to get him OUT of the suit though that impulse had to be restrained. That interview lasted a tad bit longer before they moved on to other ones and then they went back to just posing together. The cameras were literally eating them up and James didn't even know where to look there were so many flashes coming their way. He did step aside so she could pose with her band and then rejoined her so they could finally go into the theater.

"I think they were on a secret mission to make me blind," James observed as he rubbed his eyes. Even away from the cameras he could still see the flashes going off. Usually it didn't bother him…though the photogs had gone a little more crazy than normal. One would have thought they had never seen the two of them on a red carpet before.

"Awwwww come here." Mindy pulled his head down and kissed his closed eyes before rubbing her nose against his. "Better?"

He nodded and kissed her, holding her as tightly against him as he could. They had ducked into an empty hallway so they had a moment to makeout before resting their foreheads against each other. One of his hands rested over her baby bump and he lightly nudged his nose against hers. "Baby Doll?"

"Hmmm?"

"You know how we were talking about having our own private getaway in the country?"

Looking at him with doe eyes she nodded.

"Weeellll I figured we could use a little vacation BEFORE that." Smiling he kissed her again. "You and me officially have ourselves a two week stay at the Pink Sands Resort in the Bahamas."

"DO we now?" Mindy giggled and tugged on his tie so they could kiss again.

"Mhmmmm…you and me on the beach….in our own little cottage…"

"How long?"

"Three weeks. I figured we needed a little longer vacation."

"Mmmmm…" Mindy gave him a big kiss for that. "I love the way you think."


End file.
